A  Mine  of  Faults 


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A  Mine  of  Faults 


By  F.  W.  BAIN 

Translated /rom  tht  Original  Manuscriftt 

A  Digit  of  the  Moon 

And  Other  Love  Stories  from  the  Hindu 

A   Draught   of    the   Bine 

together  with 

An  Essence  of  the  Dusk 
An  Incarnation  of  the  Snow 

A  Mine  of  Faults 
The  Ashes  of  a  God 


A  Mine  of  Faults 


Translated  from  the  Original  Manuscript 

By 

F.  W.  Bain 


Was  it  a  Swoon  or  the  Wine  in  her  Eyes? 
Ha!  the  whole  World  is  one  Azure  Abyss. 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New    York    and    London 

Gbe    fmicfccrbocfcer    press 
1910 


COPYRIGHT,  igio 

BY 
F.  W.  BAIN 


Ube  fmfcberbocfcer  press,  flew  Both 


Annex 


DEDICATION 


sic  barbare  vertendum. 

iixor-mater^mica-soror-dea-JUia-concham 

vas  infirmius  hanc,  helleborose,  vocas  f 


aut  sic 


What!  this  mother-sister-daughter-goddess-vnfe-secreting 

Shell 
This,  the  weaker  vessel,  holding  Love  and  Life  and  Heaven 

and  Hell! 


111 


Introduction 

THOUGH  the  old  literature  of  the  Hindoos 
is  deficient  in  the  department  of  politics — it 
has  no  history,  no  orators,  no  Demosthenes, 
no  Polybius,  no  Aristotle;  for  the  dialectic  of 
politics  appears  to  have  been  invented  by  the 
divinely  discontented  Greek — though,  I  say,  it 
has  no  politics,  it  is  permeated  with  policy.  The 
ancients,  says  Aristotle,  wrote  politically,  but 
we  rhetorically:  and  his  remark  is  admirably 
illustrated  by  e.  g.  the  old  Panchatantra, 
whose  author  certainly  had  in  him  as  much 
policy  as  Thucydides,  although  he  chose  to 
deliver  his  wisdom  in  apologues,  rather  than 
in  the  prosaic  and  somewhat  pedantic  photo- 
graphy of  actual  affairs.  The  Hindoo  term, 
nitij  means,  not  so  much  policy,  as  diplo- 
macy, and  so  their  niti-shastra,  or  doctrine  of 
policy,  refers  rather  to  the  clever  conduct  of 


vi  Introduction 

affairs  in  negotiation,  than  to  anything  else. 
And  therefore,  love-affairs,  which  we  should 
hardly  include  under  politics,  fall  in  with  the 
Hindoo  conception,  and  in  this  sense  women 
are,  as  the  Hindoos  think,  and  their  annals 
abundantly  testify,  at  least  the  equals,  in 
policy,  of  men.  When  the  author  of  Eothen 
commended  certain  women  of  the  ^Egaean  isles 
for  their  admirable  Ttokinnrf,  he  was  using  the 
term  exactly  in  the  sense  of  niti.  And  this 
correlation  of  diplomacy  and  love  is  the  sub- 
stance of  the  present  story,  the  story  of  a 
love-affair,  in  which,  if  we  may  believe  a  great 
authority,  the  poet-king,  Bhartrihari,  the  spe- 
cial quality  required  and  exhibited  is  craft. 
The  Hindoos  in  fact  resemble  women,  and 
women  the  Hindoos,  in  this  particular,  that 
they  are  both  of  them  apt  to  identify  policy 
with  craft,  and  like  rivers,  generally  prefer 
to  reach  desired  ends  by  crooked  ways:  and 
this  is  why  both  of  them,  though  often  very 
dexterous  negotiators  (like  Wellington's  "  Old 
Brag,"  whom  he  thought  superior  to  Talley- 
rand), have  too  much  finesse  to  make  really 


Introduction  vii 

solid  statesmen.  For  intrigue  may  be  good, 
in  war,  and  it  may  be  good,  in  love,  but  it 
is  not  good,  save  in  a  subordinate  and  second- 
ary sense,  in  state-affairs.  Nothing  durable 
was  ever  built  upon  it.  Strength  is  simple, 
but  cunning  is  the  weapon  of  the  weak:  and 
there  is  probably  more  consummate  "  policy," 
i.  e.  diplomacy  and  tact,  exhibited  by  women 
in  the  conduct  of  their  love-affairs  in  every 
century,  than  has  ever  been  displayed  by  men 
on  the  great  stage  of  politics  in  the  whole  of 
human  history. 

And  though  the  title  of  our  story,  rA  Mine 
of  Faults,  might  lead  the  reader  to  expect, 
not  without  alarm,  something  geological  and 
mineral,  and  hard,  and  stony,  it  really  plays 
lightly  with  a  somewhat  softer  substance,  which 
only  disconsolate  lovers  in  the  depth  of  their 
dejection  ever  venture  to  compare  with  rocks 
or  flints — a  woman.  For  here,  as  usual,  the 
Sanskrit  epithet  conveys  two  meanings  in 
one  word:  being,  in  one  sense,  a  poetic  syn- 
onym of  the  Moon:  the  maker  of  eve,  the 
lender  of  beauty  to  the  dusk:  while,  according 


viii  Introduction 

to  the  other,  it  means  a  mine,  or  inexhaustible 
store,  of  blemishes,  defects,  or  -faults.  And 
thus,  as  applied  to  a  particular  digit  of  the 
moon,  that  is,  a  lovely  woman,  it  keeps  the 
mind  ambiguously  hovering  between  her  lus- 
trous lunar  beauty,  and  her  faiblesse: 1  the 
malicious  implication  being,  that  she  owes  her 
attraction  as  much  to  her  weakness  as  her 
beauty :  a  paradox,  to  which  the  modern  world, 
anxious  about  the  suffrage,  seems  disposed  to 
turn  at  present  a  deaf  ear.  Dogmatism,  on 
such  a  subject,  would  be  dangerous  and  un- 
becoming: yet  it  would  not  be  easy  to  deny 
that  her  faults  and  imperfections,  even  if  they 
do  not  determine  the  attraction  of  the  vas 
infirmius*  at  least  do  not  diminish,  but  in- 
crease it.  Infida,  sed  pulchra,  said  the  ancient 
of  his  mistress :  who  knows,  whether  she  would 
have  been  quite  so  lovely  in  his  eyes,  had  she 

1  There  is  yet  a  third  application,  to  the  book  itself, 
indicative  of  the  modesty  of  the  author,  with  respect  to 
the  merits  of  his  production. 

2  The  ordinary  Sanskrit  term  for  woman  is  the  exact 
equivalent,    and    may    possibly    be    the    origin,    of    this 
mediaeval   label,   in   which   we   detect   homage    and   fear 
lurking  under  the  disparagement. 


Introduction  ix 

been  true?  A  doubt,  or  dispute,  about  pos- 
session lends  value  to  the  property,  in  every 
loser's  eyes:  and  doubtless  jealousy,  while  it 
diminishes  and  tarnishes  affection,  increases 
charm.  And  indeed,  no  philosopher  has  ever 
told  us  exactly  what  it  is  that  excites  the 
passion  of  the  lover  to  his  "  most  emphatic 
she."  Take  any  man  you  will,  and  you  will 
find  that  ninety-nine  women  in  a  hundred 
will  leave  him  unelectrified,  unmoved :  the  next, 
a  very  mine  of  faults,  inferior,  to  every  other 
eye  than  his,  to  her  ninety-nine  ineffectual 
sisters,  will  nevertheless  act  upon  him  so,  that 
her  very  presence  will  send  the  blood  rushing 
into  his  face — 

Up  his  oheek  the  colour  sprang, 
Then  he  heard, 

and  for  her  sake,  it  may  be,  he  will  cast  into 
the  fire  his  family,  his  friends,  his  property, 
his  honour,  or  his  life,  or  whatever  else  is  or 
is  not  his  to  cast.  No  analysis  will  discover 
to  you  the  secret  of  the  charm.  And  yet,  let 
no  man  rashly  call  him  mad,  for  is  not  every 
lover  mad,  and  does  not  this  touch  of  Nature 


x  Introduction 

make  the  whole  world  kin?  Only,  each  re- 
quires somewhat  different  ingredients,  to  make 
up  that  particular  mass  of  imperfections  that 
appeals  to  him.  Who  but  a  fool  would  fall 
in  love  with  faults?  Ah!  hut  Nature,  or  as 
the  old  Hindoos  would  say,  the  Creator  is  so 
cunning;  so  well  he  knows  how,  by  some  al- 
most imperceptible  distinction,  some  unanalys- 
able curve  or  touch  or  grain  of  composition, 
nay,  by  a  spot,  a  fleck,  a  blemish,  an  irresistible 
defect,  a  "  mole  cinque-spotted,"  on  the  body 
or  the  soul,  to  turn  even  the  sage  into  a  fool. 
Explain  it  as  we  may,  it  is  not  perfection  that 
has  inspired  the  great  passions  of  the  world. 
Unless,  indeed,  anyone  should  choose  to  say, 
that  perfection  consists  precisely  in  a  mass 
of  imperfections — and  then  he  would  agree 
with  the  author  of  this  tale:  the  Moony- 
Crested  God. 

Being  at  Bombay,  by  accident,  a  little 
while  ago,  I  went  down  to  the  harbour,  as 
my  custom  is,  to  find  a  boat.  But  as  it  hap- 
pened, such  a  gale  was  blowing  from  the 


Introduction  xi 

east,  that  not  a  boat  would  come.  They  were 
all  cowering,  as  it  were,  huddled  together  on 
the  lee  side  of  the  quay,  dancing  madly  on  the 
tossing  waves,  like  corks.  Here,  however,  as 
long  ago  in  the  case  of  the  Macedonian  Philip, 
silver  arguments  prevailed:  and  at  last  I  put 
forth  "  in  the  teeth  of  the  hard  glad  weather, 
in  the  blown  wet  face  of  the  sea,"  with  feel- 
ings which  those  only  can  appreciate  who  love 
the  sea  beyond  all  earthly  things,  and  live  away 
from  it  against  their  will.  So,  then,  we  fared 
on  in  the  eye  of  the  \vind,  tacking  to  and  fro, 
and  shipping  half  the  water  that  we  met.  The 
race  is  very  strong,  in  Bombay  harbour,  at  the 
turn  of  the  tide,  in  rough  weather;  we  were 
crossing  it  aslant,  and  in  the  turmoil,  our 
"  patron "  made  a  blunder  with  the  tiller, 
which  drew  down  upon  his  grey  hairs  such 
a  storm  of  execration  from  his  crew,  who  were 
baling  for  dear  life,  that  in  his  confusion  he 
lost  his  head  and  very  nearly  ended  all. 
We  got  across,  however,  but  the  violence  of 
the  wind  made  it  after  all 'utterly  impossible 
to  make  the  north  coast  of  Elephanta,  where 


xii  Introduction 

the  landing-stage  is,  and  therefore  I  had  to 
land  where  I  could,  upon  the  south. 

I  wandered  through  the  woody  isle,  start- 
ling equally  the  monkeys,  and  the  men  who 
were  constructing  a  new  battery  on  the  apex 
of  the  hill ;  who,  taking  my  method  of  arrival, 
with  the  weather,  into  view,  were  strongly  in- 
clined, as  I  imagine,  to  consider  me  a  Russian 
spy.1  But  finally  that  came  about,  which  I 
had  foreseen:  when  I  reached  the  cave,  for 
once  I  had  it  to  myself.  The  weather  had 
effectually  protected  it  from  all  intrusion  but 
my  own:  and  those  bands  of  pleasure  seekers, 
who  make  it  a  place  of  horror  and  defilement, 
and  desecrate  its  holy  solitude,  were  missing. 
About  it,  and  in  it,  was  no  noise  whatever  but 
the  noise  of  the  wind. 

I  went  into  the  cave,  and  sat  down,  at  the 
feet  of  Deity,  close  beside  the  shrine.  It  was 
growing  late,  for  we  had  taken  long  to  come, 
and  dusk  was  beginning  to  settle  over  its  dark 
interior  recesses,  making  its  projections  stand 

1  As  I  subsequently  gathered  from  my  friend,  the  gal- 
lant officer  in  control,  I  ought  to  have  been  shot,  hanged, 
or  otherwise  destroyed,  for  being  there  at  all. 


Introduction  xiii 

out  strongly  in  the  gloom.  Just  before  me 
was  the  Marriage  of  Shiwa  and  Parwati,  dim 
and  huge,  upon  the  wall:  the  gigantic  figure 
of  the  Great  God,  holding  by  the  hand,  to 
lead  her  round  the  sacred  fire,  the  Daughter 
of  the  Mountain,  whose  attitude  is  a  triumph 
of  artistic  skill:  coy,  bashful,  and  reluctant, 
with  averted  head,  she  seems  as  though  un- 
willing to  place  her  hand  in  his,  to  gain  whom 
she  had  endured  so  many  self-inflicted  tor- 
tures. And  a  little  way  off,  in  the  darkness, 
I  could  just  discern  the  colossal  Trimurti,  the 
three-headed  bust  of  Shiwa,  whose  central 
countenance  is  filled  with  such  majestic, 
beautiful,  immense  repose:  divine,  immortal 
calm.  And  all  round  me  stood  about,  here 
and  there,  huge  Dwarapalas,  Pishachas,  grin- 
ning Kirttmukhas  demons  and  lesser  deities, 
satellites  and  servers  and  ministers  of  the 
Moony-Crested  God. 

And  as  I  sat,  so  little,  among  those  great 
Shadows,  with  the  darkness  growing  deeper, 
in  the  silence,  was  it  fancy,  or  did  they  whisper 
to  one  another:  Who  is  this  strange  white- 


xiv  Introduction 

faced  unbeliever,  who  sits  alone  among  us,  as 
if  half  out  of  devotion,  yet  without  the  flowers, 
and  the  water,  and  the  camphor,  and  the 
lamps,  and  the  mantras,  and  all  the  other 
customary  rites? 

And  I  said  in  a  whisper:  O  Moony- 
Crested,  be  not  angry:  for  surely  I  was  thy 
worshipper  of  old,  in  some  forgotten  former 
birth.  And  even  now,  is  there  among  thy 
dusky  millions,  even  one,  who  has  so  sincere 
a  regard  for  thy  dead  divinity,  and  for  that 
of  thy  delicious  little  snowy  bride,  as  I  ?  And 
at  least  I  worship  with  true  devotion  the  digit 
of  the  moon,  that  shines  in  thy  tawny  tangled 
hair. 

So  I  made  peace  with  those  old  ghosts,  and 
we  sat  together  in  the  darkness,  and  their 
Lord  put  a  thought  into  my  heart,  as  I  gazed 
at  him,  while  Bombay  seemed  to  have  faded 
away  into  another  world. 

And  then,  after  a  while,  I  got  up:  and  I 
bowed  to  my  Companions,  and  went  away. 
The  wind  had  dropped,  and  blew  us  gently 


Introduction  xv 

home.  Night  had  fallen,  before  we  reached 
the  quay:  lights  and  shadows  came  and  went 
on  the  quiet  water,  dimpling  round  the  tired 
boat.  I  stepped  out,  and  disappeared  in  the 
motley  crowd  of  English  ladies,  native  coolies, 
Christians,  pagans,  Musulmans,  Parsees,  ne- 
groes, Arab  horse-dealers,  British  sailors,  and 
all  the  other  national  ingredients  that  it  takes 
to  make  Bombay. 


MAHABLESHWAR, 
May,  1909. 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

AN  INSTRUMENT  OF  POLICY  i 

A  DIPLOMATIC  INTERVIEW 37 

A  CORDIAL  UNDERSTANDING         .        .        .        .141 


xvii 


An   Instrument  of  Policy 


An  Instrument  of  Policy 
i 

Hail  to  the  Lord  of  the  Moony  Tire,  whose 
throat  derives  its  blue  less  from  the  Kalakuta 
which  he  drank  but  once  to  save  the  world, 
than  from  the  cloud  of  colour  that  rests  for 
ever  like  a  ring  around  his  neck,  formed  of 
dark  glances  from  the  shadowy  eyes  of  the 
Daughter  of  the  Snow,  permanently  fixed 
with  indelible  affection  x  on  his  face! 

LONG  ago,  as  the  God  of  gods  was  play- 
ing in  the  evening  on  the  edge  of  an  awful 
precipice  in  Himalaya  with  his  wife,  it  hap- 
pened, that,  all  at  once,  that  lotus-eyed 
Daughter  of  the  Snowy  Mountain  fell  into 

1  The  word  here  used  for  indelible  affection  means  also 
deep  blue. 

3 


4  A  Mine  of  Faults 

a  brown  study.  And  Maheshwara,  by  his 
magic  power,  penetrated  her  thoughts.  Never- 
theless, after  a  while,  making  as  if  he  did  not 
know,  he  enquired  of  her  politely:  Of  what 
is  my  beloved  thinking,  with  such  intense  ab- 
straction? And  hearing  him  speak,  Parwati 
started,  and  blushed,  and  hesitated.  And 
presently  she  said:  I  was  but  thinking  of 
my  Father.1  And  then,  the  Great  God 
smiled.  And  he  said,  looking  at  her  with 
unutterable  affection:  O  thou  Snowy  one, 
I  see,  that  thou  also  art  but  a  mine  of  faults. 
Thou  hast  not  told  me  the  literal  truth!  For 
thou  wast  thinking,  that  thy  own  eyes  re- 
sembled that  great  blue  chasm  in  yonder  ice, 
but  that  the  eyes  were  superior.  And  it  was 
true.  Then  Parwati  blushed  again,  while  the 
god  watched  her  with  attention.  And  after 
a  while,  she  said:  Why  didst  thou  say,  that 
I  also  am  a  mine  of  faults?  Then  said 
Maheshwara:  Every  woman  is  a  mine  of 
faults,  and  thou  art  thyself  a  woman,  al- 

1  i.  e.,  the  Himalaya  mountain.    This  was,  in  a  sense 
true:  and  yet,  she  prevaricated. 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  5 

though  a  goddess,  being,  as  it  were,  Woman 
incarnate,  the  very  type  and  pattern  of  them 
all.  And  it  is  very  well.  For  if  women  had 
no  faults,  half  their  charm  would  disappear. 
For,  apropos,,  thou  hast  already  blushed  twice, 
which  thou  wouldst  not  have  done,  at  all,  but 
for  thy  feminine  preoccupation  about  thy  own 
incomparable  beauty,  which  led  thee  to  com- 
pare thy  lotus-eyes  with  the  blue  mountain 
ice,  to  its  inferiority,  and  for  thy  shame,  which 
led  thee  to  endeavour  to  hide  from  me  thy 
self-approval  by  telling  me  a  fib.  And  thy 
blush  is  an  ornament  to  thee,  which  I  love  to 
look  at,  resembling  as  it  does  the  first  kiss 
of  early  Dawn  on  thy  father's  snowy  peaks. 

And  then,  that  lovely  one  blushed  in  con- 
fusion for  the  third  time,  deeper  than  before. 
And  again  she  said :  But  why  is  every  woman 
a  mine  of  faults?  Then  said  her  lord:  I 
could  tell  thee  many  instances  to  prove  it,  had 
I  leisure:  but  as  it  is,  just  now,  I  have  not 
time.  And  the  goddess  exclaimed :  Out  upon 
thee!  Thou  dost  only  tease  me.  What  is 
Time  to  thee?  Do  I  not  know  that  thou  thy- 


6  A  Mine  of  Faults 

self  art  Time  itself?  And  she  began  to  coax 
and  wheedle  and  caress  him,  to  gain  her  end, 
knowing  her  own  power,  and  certain  of 
success. 

So  then,  after  a  while,  Maheshwara  said: 
See  now,  if  even  I,  who  am  a  god,  even 
among  gods,  am  utterly  unable  to  resist  the 
feminine  cajolery  incarnate  in  thy  form,  what 
are  the  miserable  mortal  men  below  to  do, 
against  it?  Come,  then,  I  will  humour  thee, 
by  telling  thee  a  tale.  But  first,  I  must  pro- 
vide against  the  mischief  that  would  other- 
wise come  about,  by  reason  of  my  delay  on 
thy  account.  For  I  can  remedy  the  ill,  which 
thou  dost  overlook,  preferring  thy  own  amuse- 
ment to  the  business  of  the  three  worlds:  but 
it  is  otherwise  with  men,  who,  cajoled  and  be- 
fooled by  thy  sisters  in  witchery  below,  often 
lose  golden  opportunities. 

And  then,  by  his  magic  power,  he  suspended 
the  operation  of  the  three  worlds,  so  that 
everything,  animate  and  inanimate,  fell  as  it 
were  suddenly  into  a  magic  sleep,  and  all 
action  stopped,  remaining  suspended  on  the 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  7 

very  brink  of  coming  into  being,  like  a  moun- 
tain waterfall  suddenly  turned  to  ice.  And 
he  said:  When  the  story  is  told,  I  will  re- 
lease things  from  the  spell,  and  all  will  go 
on  just  as  it  would  have  done  before.  For 
time,  uncounted,  is  the  same  as  none  at  all. 
And  then,  he  turned  towards  his  wife,  and 
said:  And  now,  where  shall  we  sit,  to  tell 
and  hear?  Then  she  said:  I  will  listen  on 
thy  lap,  as  thou  roamest  through  the  air,  for 
so  I  love  to  listen  to  thy  tales. 

And  Maheshwara  took  her  in  his  arms. 
And  as  they  floated  in  space,  she  laid  her 
head  upon  his  breast,  and  played  with  his 
rosary  of  skulls,  drinking  his  ocean-story 1 
with  the  shell  of  her  little  ear. 


And  he  said:  There  lived  of  old,  in  the 
northern  quarter,  two  kings,  who  were  neigh- 
bours, and  hereditary  enemies;  and  one  was 
of  the  race  of  the  Moon,  and  the  other  of  the 

1  This  epithet  refers  to  his  story-telling  abundance. 
Shiwa  is  credited  with  the  invention  of  all  the  stories  in 
literature. 


8  A  Mine  of  Faults 

Sun;  and  one  was  king  of  the  hill  country, 
and  the  other,  king  of  the  plains.  And  the 
name  of  the  one  was  Mitra,  and  that  of  the 
other,  Chand.1  And  as  fate  would  have  it, 
King  Mitra  was  a  man  of  peace,  and  a  lover 
of  songs  and  pictures,  and  poetry,  and  ease. 
And  he  married  a  beautiful  wife,  whom  he 
loved  better  than  his  own  soul,  and  lived  with 
her  deliciously  until  at  last  she  died,  leaving 
him  with  a  broken  heart  and  nothing  to  con- 
sole him  except  her  recollection,  as  it  were 
incarnate  in  a  daughter  who  resembled  her 
exactly  in  everything  but  years.  But  on  the 
contrary,  Chand  was  a  lover  of  war.  And 
he  spent  his  whole  life  in  fighting  everlasting 
battles  with  all  surrounding  kings,  never  rest- 
ing for  a  moment:  and  he  reduced  them,  one 
by  one,  to  submission  and  obedience,  bending 
down  their  stubborn  heads  till  their  crowns 
were  reflected  all  together  in  a  ring  in  the 

1  Pronounce  to  rhyme  with  "  stunned."  (As  these 
names  will  constantly  recur,  I  have,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
English  reader,  cut  them  down,  retaining  only  their  core. 
At  length,  they  are  names  of  the  moon  and  sun,  mean- 
ing respectively  the  Friend  of  the  Lotuses,  and  the  Fierce 
fire  of  the  Sun.) 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  9 

jewels  of  his  toes  as  they  humbly  knelt  be- 
fore him,  like  a  crown  composed  of  crowns: 
for  his  military  skill  was  like  his  stature, 
gigantic.  And  he  married  unwillingly,  only 
for  the  sake  of  continuing  the  line  of  his  de- 
scent; and  having  once  obtained  a  son,  he 
turned  his  back  upon  his  wife,  and  went  away, 
leaving  her  behind  him,  alone  in  his  capital, 
and  carrying  away  with  him  his  son,  whom 
he  brought  up  in  his  camp,  making  him  a 
warrior,  and  teaching  him,  both  by  continual 
precept  and  his  own  example,  utter  contempt 
for  every  peaceful  occupation,  and  above  all, 
for  women.  And  so  he  went  on,  year  by 
year,  until  at  last,  when  his  son  was  eighteen, 
and  still  unmarried,1  for  his  father  kept  put- 
ting off  his  marriage,  saying:  What  is  the 
need  of  hurry?  a  necessary  evil  is  better  still 
deferred:  King  Chand  was  suddenly  killed, 
in  the  field  of  battle.  And  he  just  had  time 
to  murmur  to  his  son:  Follow  in  my  foot- 

1  Notwithstanding  the  system  of  very  early  marriage, 
cases  of  this  kind  are  common  in  the  old  stories:  as  is 
necessary:  for  in  fairy  tales,  unmarried  heroines  and 
heroes  are  sine  quibus  -non. 


io  A  Mine  of  Faults 

steps:  recollect  my  lessons:  guard  the  king- 
dom: conquer  the  regions,  and  above  all, 
beware  of  women:  when  Death  took  him,  as 
it  were,  by  the  throat  while  he  was  speaking, 
and  he  set  out  instantly  along  the  Great  Road. 
So,  then,  when  his  son,  who  was  named  after 
his  father,  had  performed  his  father's  obse- 
quies according  to  the  rites,  he  continued  to 
live,  exactly  as  his  father  had,  before.  And 
after  a  while,  his  ministers  came  to  him  one 
day,  and  said:  Maharaj,  this  is  well,  that 
the  son  should  continue  to  run,  like  a  wheel, 
in  the  rut  his  father  made.  But  still  there 
is  a  difference,  between  thee  and  thy  father, 
which  escapes  thy  observation.  Then  said 
Chand:  What  is  that?  And  they  said:  He 
carried  about  with  him  everywhere,  a  son. 
And  Chand  said:  Ha!  so  he  did.  Then  said 
his  ministers:  It  is  high  time  that  thy  mar- 
riage also  took  place:  and  then  in  due  time, 
the  parallel  between  thy  father  and  thyself 
will  be  exact,  and  thou  wilt  resemble  him  as 
closely  as  the  moon  resembles  his  own  image 
in  the  water. 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  1 1 

then,  Chand  laughed,  and  he  ex- 
claimed: As  if  it  were  necessary  to  get 
married,  in  order  to  obtain  a  son!  And  his 
ministers  said:  It  is  absolutely  necessary. 
For  a  son  that  is  truly  a  son  can  be  begotten 
only  of  a  wife  truly  a  wife,  led  by  thee  around 
the  sacred  fire. 

Then  said  Chand:  Ye  are  all  mere  fools. 
For  if  I  choose,  cannot  I  adopt  a  son,  as 
many  of  my  ancestors  have  done  before  me? 
And  this  is  by  far  the  better  way.  For  who 
can  tell  beforehand  what  his  own  begotten 
son  will  be  like?  For  many  times  a  bad  son 
has  issued  from  the  loins  of  a  good  father. 
But  he  who  chooses  a  son,  like  one  that 
chooses  a  horse,  knows  what  he  is  doing: 
since  he  takes  him  for  his  qualities,  visible 
and  sure,  out  of  all  that  he  can  find.  And 
in  this  way,  the  object  is  attained,  with- 
out having  recourse  to  the  expedient  of  a 
wife. 

Then  said  his  ministers:  O  King,  if  all 
men  were  to  follow  thy  example,  the  world 
would  come  to  an  end.  For  even  adopted 


12  A  Mine  of  Faults 

sons  cannot  be  adopted,  until  they  are  be- 
gotten. And  if  thou  wilt  not  marry,  others 
must:  or  else  thy  plan  is  impossible  and 
vain. 

Then  said  Chand:  Let  the  others  all  do 
exactly  as  they  please,  and  so  will  I:  for  I 
at  least  will  be  an  exception  to  this  universal 
rule  of  marriage.  For  if  women,  as  it  seems, 
are  indispensable,  in  this  matter  of  procuring 
sons,  I  see  no  other  use  in  them  whatever. 
What  is  a  woman  but  a  mine  of  faults?  For 
she  cannot  fight,  and  is  destitute  of  valour; 
and  she  is  absolutely  nothing  whatever  but 
a  man  deprived  of  his  manhood,  a  weakling, 
a  coward,  and  a  dwarf,  and  as  it  were,  a  mis- 
incarnation  of  impotence,  accidentally  formed 
by  the  Creator  in  a  moment  of  fatigue,  or 
forgetfulness,  or  hurry,  or  it  may  be,  out  of 
irony  and  sport :  for  there  is  absolutely  nothing 
whatever  worth  doing,  which  a  woman  can 
do:  nor  can  she  do  anything  whatever,  which 
a  man  cannot  do  far  better  than  herself.  And 
linked  to  a  man,  what  is  she,  but  a  load,  and 
as  it  were,  a  fetter  or  a  chain  to  him,  and  like 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  13 

a  very  heavy  burden  tied  to  the  leg  of  one 
running  in  a  race?  And  therefore,  I  see  no 
use  in  her  at  all,  but  very  much  the  contrary. 
For  in  addition  to  her  incapacity,  she  is  as 
it  were  endowed  by  the  Creator  with  a  multi- 
tude of  positive  defects :  for  she  is  everlast- 
ingly shedding  tears,  and  scolding,  and  what 
is  utterly  intolerable,  never  stops  talking  about 
absolutely  nothing,  so  that  the  mere  presence 
of  a  woman  is  a  curse.  Moreover,  she  is  as 
fickle  and  inconstant  and  capricious  as  the 
wind,  and  less  to  be  trusted  than  a  cobra;  and 
over  and  over  again,  women  have  deceived 
and  betrayed  even  their  own  husbands,  both 
in  love  and  war.  But  the  very  worst  of  all 
is,  that  they  love  a  man  less,  in  exact  pro- 
portion to  his  worth,  preferring  almost  any- 
one, no  matter  what  he  be,  who  flatters  and 
courts  and  overvalues  them,  to  even  a  hero 
who  does  not,  abandoning,  like  flies,  every- 
thing, to  flock  to  that  honey  which  alone  at- 
tracts them,  and  demanding  the  sacrifice  of 
everything  noble  to  their  craving  appetite  for 
frivolity  and  sweets.  Therefore  for  my  part 


14  A  Mine  of  Faults 

I  will  live,  never  having  anything  whatever 
to  do  with  any  one  of  them:  nor  shall  any 
jackal  of  you  all  persuade  me  to  put  off  the 
natural  colour  I  was  born  with,  and  by  plung- 
ing into  the  vat  of  matrimony,  come  out  dyed 
all  over  an  intolerable  blue.1 

And  hearing  him  speak,  his  ministers  looked 
at  one  another,  laughing  in  their  sleeves. 
And  they  said  to  one  another,  behind  his 
back:  How  well  does  this  young  lion  roar, 
repeating  by  rote,  as  if  he  were  a  parrot,  ex- 
actly what  the  old  one  taught  him!  For 
what,  forsooth!  does  he  know  of  woman,  who 
has  hardly  been  allowed  to  see  were  it  even 
so  much  as  her  shadow?  Truly,  he  resembles 
a  young  black  bee,  kept  in  ignorance  of 
flowers  and  their  honey,  and  taught  to  call 
it  poison,  conceitedly  lecturing  older  bees,  his 
brothers,  about  what  he  does  not  understand. 
But  we  shall  see,  whether,  in  due  time,  we 
shall  not  have  the  laugh  on  our  side.  And 
in  the  meanwhile,  always  provided  he  is  not 

1  This  refers  to  a  story  in  the  Panchatantra,  well  known 
in  Europe  as  the  fable  of  the  fox  who  had  lost  his  tail. 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  15 

killed  like  his  father,  beforehand,  his  error  is, 
at  any  rate,  an  error  on  the  better  side.  For 
many  a  young  king-bee,  in  his  position,  would 
long  ago  have  rushed  into  the  opposite  ex- 
treme, rifling  every  lotus  within  his  reach,  till 
he  died  of  intoxication  and  exhaustion  and 
excess.  But  as  for  him,  lucky  will  that  lotus 
be,  that  first  succeeds  in  opening  his  eyes  to 
what  a  lotus  really  is:  for  he  will  give  her, 
not  the  dregs  of  his  satiety,  but  real  devotion 
springing  from  an  uncontaminated  well,  pure 
and  delicious,  of  which  no  one  has  ever  been 
allowed  to  drink  before.  And  in  the  mean- 
time, we  will  wait,  in  expectation  of  the 
change,  which  is  certain  to  arrive. 

So  they  waited:  but  time  went  on,  and 
Chand  still  continued  as  before,  thinking  only 
of  battle,  and  observing  the  brahmachari* 
vow,  just  as  if  there  were  no  such  thing  as 
a  woman  in  the  world. 

Then  said  Parwati  softly  to  her  lord :  Sure 
I  am,  that  the  god  of  the  flowery  bow  2  would 
have  punished  him  severely  for  his  presump- 

1  i.  e.,  of  virginity.  2  i.  e.,  the  God  of  Love. 


1 6  A  Mine  of  Faults 

tion,  had  he  only  heard  him  so  outrageously 
vituperating  his  sworn  allies  and  darling 
weapons  as  thou  sayest. 

And  Maheshwara  said:  O  Daughter  of 
the  Snow,  he  was  punished,  sufficiently,  as 
thou  wilt  learn  in  due  time.  For  few  indeed 
are  the  young  men  or  women  that  the  Bodi- 
less god  overlooks,  seeing  that  of  all  of  us, 
he  is  by  far  the  most  jealous  in  exacting 
homage  to  his  divinity,  as  if  he  doubted  it 
himself,  and  greedy  of  extorting  from  every- 
one acknowledgment,  like  a  woman  uncertain 
of  the  affection  of  her  lover,  insatiably  crav- 
ing to  hear  its  avowal,  over  and  over  again, 
from  his  lips.  And  yet,  perhaps  the  great- 
est punishment  of  all  would  have  been,  to 
leave  him  alone:  since  of  all  my  creatures, 
those  are  most  to  be  pitied,  whom  love  utterly 
neglects,  leaving  them  as  it  were  in  a  night 
to  which  there  never  comes  a  dawn.  And 
who  knows  this  better  than  thyself,  by  reason 
of  thy  own  extraordinary  torture,1  before  I 

1  v.  the  Kumdra  Sambhawa,  for  a  full  account  of  Par- 
wati's  wooing. 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  17 

had  to  burn  Love's  body  for  his  own  pre- 
sumption, with  fire  from  my  eye.  But  now, 
hush!  and  lie  still,  and  listen  to  the  remainder 
of  the  tale. 


II 


Now  in  the  meantime,  all  this  while  King 
Mitra  continued,  living  in  his  capital  among 
the  hills,  just  as  if  King  Chand  had  never 
been  born,  with  a  soul  that  was  divided,  as 
it  were,  with  exact  precision,  between  his 
dead  wife  and  his  living  daughter,  who  re- 
sembled one  another  like  the  two  Twilights,1 
so  closely,  that  he  could  not  look  at  his 
daughter,  without  thinking  of  his  wife,  nor 
call  his  wife  back  to  his  recollection  without 
bringing  his  daughter  with  her,  like  a  shadow 
of  herself.  And  between  them  his  soul  hov- 
ered, going  backwards  and  forwards,  till  he 
was  hardly  able  to  discern,  of  the  present  and 
the  past,  which  was  the  reality,  and  which 
only  a  dream.  And  so  as  he  continued,  one 
day  there  came  to  see  him  in  his  palace  his 

1  Dusk  and  Dawn. 

18 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  19 

prime  minister,  Yogeshwara.  Now  this  min- 
ister was  well  named,  being  very  old  and 
very  crafty,  and  in  spite  of  the  King's  in- 
attention, he  had  borne  the  kingdom  on  his 
own  shoulders  all  his  life,  preserving  it  intact. 
For  his  wisdom  resembled  his  white  head,  and 
there  was  not  a  black  hair  in  the  one,  nor  a 
weak  spot  in  the  other:  since  both  had  reached 
the  perfect  state  of  being  without  a  flaw. 

So  when  he  entered,  he  said  slowly  to  the 
King:  O  Maharaj,  certainly  thy  kingdom 
hangs  over  the  very  brink  or  ruin.  And  then, 
the  old  King  looked  at  hini  with  a  smile.  And 
he  said:  O  Yogeshwara,  I  know  of  nothing 
in  the  world  that  could  utterly  destroy  this 
kingdom,  except  thy  own  death.  For  then, 
indeed,  it  would  be  not  merely  on  the  brink, 
but  lost  and  already  lying  at  the  very  bottom 
of  the  abyss.  But  as  it  is,  I  see  thee  there 
before  me,  in  vigour  and  health.  How,  then, 
can  any  ruin  be  impending?  And  Yogesh- 
wara said:  O  King,  here  is  Chand,  the  son 
of  Chand,  the  very  image  of  his  father,  for 
he  has  all  his  father's  warlike  ability,  with 


20  A  Mine  of  Faults 

youth  and  its  energy  superadded,  about  to 
fall  upon  thy  kingdom  like  a  thunderstorm. 
And  during  his  father's  lifetime,  though  my 
hair  turned  white,  as  if  with  terror,  and  my 
ear-root  wrinkled,  as  if  with  anxiety,  never- 
theless I  managed,  somehow  or  other,  by  the 
aid  of  thy  royal  fortune  and  the  Lord  of 
Obstacles,  to  turn  his  attack  always  upon 
others,  and  keep  him  busy  at  a  distance  from 
our  territory.  But  now,  all  other  kings  be- 
ing subdued,  this  young  Chand,  burning  to 
outdo  his  father,  has  determined  to  fall  at  last 
on  thee,  being  as  it  were  ravenous  for  still 
more  earth,1  in  the  form  of  these  thy  hills. 
And  he  has  sent  a  message,  saying:  That 
unless  King  Mitra  will  instantly  make  sub- 
mission and  pay  tribute,  he  will  hear  the  tread 
of  King  Chand's  armies  coming  up  towards 
the  hills2  like  the  roar  of  the  rains  in  the 
burst  of  their  flood.  Nor  is  there  any  hope 
that  he  can  be  resisted  by  force,  for  he  and 

1  The    special    duty   of   a   king,    according   to   the    old 
Hindoo  sages,  is  to  hunger  and  thirst  after  earth,  like 
Ovid's  Eresichthon. 

2  The  monsoon  which  travels  N.  E. 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  21 

his  armies  will  sweep  away  ours,  like  a  wind 
scattering  a  heap  of  leaves. 

So  when  he  had  spoken,  the  old  King 
looked  at  him  again,  smiling  exactly  as  be- 
fore. And  he  said :  O  Yogeshwara,  certainly 
this  cloud  seems  to  threaten  a  devastating 
storm.  And  yet,  I  am  ready  to  stake  my 
whole  kingdom,  that  thou  hast  already  de- 
vised a  means  of  averting  the  catastrophe: 
nay,  of  even  turning  it  to  our  advantage,  so 
that  this  Chand-cloud,  instead  of  sweeping 
away  all  our  crops  in  ruin,  will  on  the  con- 
trary water  all  our  fields  for  another  harvest. 

Then  said  Yogeshwara:  Maharaj,  some- 
thing indeed  I  have  meditated.  And  yet,  all 
search  would  have  been  vain,  and  all  delibera- 
tion idle,  had  I  not,  by  the  special  favour  of 
the  Elephant-faced  deity,  discovered  a  diplo- 
matist far  abler  than  myself.  And  the  old 
King  laughed;  and  he  exclaimed:  Ha!  that 
is  news  indeed!  O  Yogeshwara,  tell  me 
quickly,  whether  this  wonder  of  diplomacy  is 
young.  For  the  time  must  come,  though  long 
may  it  be  coming,  when,  like  every  other  man, 


22  A  Mine  of  Faults 

thou  too  wilt  have  to  change  thy  birth  for 
another:  and  then  I  shall  require  him  to  re- 
place thee.  And  little  did  I  dream,  that  my 
kingdom  contained  within  it  another  such  as 
thou  art.  Truly,  I  am  curious  to  see  him. 
Then  said  Yogeshwara:  Say  rather,  her:  and 
often  hast  thou  seen  her,  for  it  is  no  other 
than  thy  own  daughter. 

And  as  the  King  started,  Yogeshwara  said 
again:  O  King,  there  are  circumstances,  in 
which  sex  makes  all  the  difference  between 
wisdom  and  folly:  and  cases,  in  which  a 
woman,  just  because  she  is  a  woman,  will 
make  a  more  invincible  negotiator  than  all  the 
ministers,  from  Dhritarashtra  *  down,  that 
ever  lived.  And  this  is  such  a  case,  and  all 
the  more,  because  the  woman  is  such  a  woman 
as  thy  daughter,  whom  I  think  that  the  Creator 
must  have  framed,  with  an  eye  to  this  very 
situation.  And  now,  then,  I  will  tell  thee, 
that  I  foresaw  this  from  the  first,  and  I  kept 
it  as  it  were  stored  in  reserve  as  a  resource 
in  the  hour  of  exigency,  to  be,  if  the  Lord 

1  One  of  the  heroes  in  the  Mahabharata. 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  23 

of  Obstacles  were  only  favourable,  the  triumph 
of  my  policy  and  its  crown,  and  the  coping- 
stone  of  my  career.  And  with  this  very  ob- 
ject it  was,  that  long  ago,  as  thou  knowest, 
I  obtained  thy  permission  to  cultivate  thy 
daughter,  and  to  train  her,  and  to  tutor  her; 
and  as  I  watched  her  growing,  I  said  within 
myself:  Some  day,  this  sowing  of  thine, 
aided  by  my  culture,  will  be  fruitful,  and  it 
may  be,  she  will  prove  an  instrument  of 
policy,  to  save  the  kingdom  from  destruction, 
when  every  other  instrument  has  failed.  And 
very  apt  indeed  was  my  pupil,  and  yet  there 
is  another  Master,  who  has  done  infinitely 
more  for  her,  in  this  matter  of  diplomacy,  than 
I.  For  I  think  that  the  very  God  of  Love 
himself  has  befriended  this  kingdom,  and  con- 
spired to  assist  it  in  its  need,  lending  his  aid 
to  supplement  my  own  insufficient  efforts,  and 
mixing  in  thy  daughter's  composition  some 
bewildering  ingredient,  peculiar  to  herself. 

And  then,  all  at  once,  the  King  exclaimed: 
Ah !  no,  not  so.  O  Yogeshwara,  thou  art  mis- 
taken, for  he  took  it  from  her  mother.  Ah! 


24  A  Mine  of  Faults 

cunning  god,  well  he  knew,  where  to  find  the 
fascination  he  required.  O  her  voice!  and  her 
eyes!  and  the  smile  upon  her  lips!  and  O  alas! 
for  the  sweetness  that  is  gone  for  ever!  Aye! 
indeed,  there  breathed  from  every  part  of  her 
something  that  I  cannot  name,  some  spell, 
some  property,  some  fragrance,  flung  as  it 
were  from  some  intoxicating  source  within  her 
soul,  to  drive  me  to  despair. 

And  as  the  King  stopped,  sadly  fixing  his 
eyes  upon  the  ground,  Yogeshwara  said 
again:  Maharaj,  whether  the  Deity  took  it, 
as  thou  sayest,  from  the  Queen  her  mother, 
or  invented  it  afresh,  I  cannot  tell:  but  cer- 
tain it  is,  that  the  feminine  delusion  in  thy 
daughter  is  the  very  masterpiece  of  a  Deity 
skilled  beyond  all  others  in  the  production  of 
the  irresistible:  and  old  as  I  am,  and  versed 
in  all  the  varieties  and  ways  of  women,  I 
never  saw  anything  that  resembled  it  before. 
And  often,  as  I  have  watched  her,  innocently 
casting  what  thou  hast  called  her  fragrance 
about  her  in  the  air,  with  none  to  note  it,  and 
all  unconscious  of  her  own  inexplicable  charm, 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  25 

like  a  great  blue  lonely  lotus-flower  growing 
on  a  silent  mirror  of  black  water  in  an  un- 
discovered forest-pool,  never  even  dreaming  of 
looking  at  its  own  reflection  in  the  water, 
towards  which  all  the  time  it  bends,  as  if  to 
kiss  it,  absolutely  blind  to  the  loveliness  that 
almost  touches  it,  and  issues  from  itself,  de- 
priving everyone  that  sees  it  of  his  reason,  I 
have  striven  in  wonder  to  discover,  exactly 
in  what  the  charm  consisted,  and  in  what  part 
of  her  it  lay:  and  yet  I  could  not,  so  craftily 
has  the  Creator  distributed  it  everywhere  about 
her.  And  yet,  musing  over  it  alone,  it  has 
seemed  to  me  to  be  a  thing  compounded,  as 
it  were,  of  contradiction.  For  as  you  listen 
to  her,  you  are  amazed  by  her  intelligence, 
and  when  you  look  at  her,  you  smile  as  it 
were  against  your  will,  and  yet  with  an  in- 
clination to  laugh,  from  pure  delight,  so 
strange  and  so  surprising  and  somehow  or 
other,  absurdly  delicious  does  it  seem,  for  such 
sagacity  to  lodge,  incongruously,  in  such  a 
casket,  so  dainty,  and  so  delicate,  and  so  curi- 
ously and  beautifully  mocking  as  it  were  the 


26  A  Mine  of  Faults 

cruder  mould  of  all  her  ordinary  sisters,  that 
it  leaves  you  puzzled  and  perplexed  and 
doubtful,  whether  to  treat  her  as  a  woman  or 
a  child,  or  something  altogether  different  from 
both.  And  there  is  a  sort  of  exhilarating,  and 
as  it  were,  caressing  sweetness,  and  a  sound  re- 
sembling liquid  laughter,  falling  far  away  and 
yet  lurking,  somewhere  or  other,  in  the  tone 
of  her  voice,  as  it  gives  utterance  to  aphorisms 
worthy  of  Brihaspati,1  that  flatters  and  in- 
toxicates the  ear,  stealing  through  it  straight 
into  the  soul,  and  lending  to  everything  she 
says,  even  were  it  nonsense,  a  power  of  per- 
suasion not  its  own.  And  as  if  this,  coupled 
to  her  beauty,  were  not  enough,  there  is  some- 
thing affectionate,  and  confiding,  and  as  it 
were,  an  appealing  submission  that  is  mixed, 
I  cannot  tell  how,  with  a  kind  of  proud  and 
half  playful,  half  serious  defiance,  that  flatters 
and  delights  and  bribes  and  corrupts  you  in 
her  behaviour,  and  would  utterly  disarm  you, 
even  if  you  were,  what  is  absolutely  impos- 
sible, her  enemy;  so  that  if  once  you  looked 
preceptor  of  the  gods;  as  we  should  say,  a  Solon. 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  27 

at  her,  you  would  be  helpless,  and  wholly  un- 
able to  be  angry  with  her,  no  matter  what 
she  did;  for  she  would  laugh  at  your  anger 
and  beguile  it,  like  a  bewitching  child  en- 
deavouring to  play  with  incomparable  grace 
the  part  of  a  woman,  and  challenging  you  to 
find  fault  with  her  on  any  ground  whatever. 
And  yet  she  has  the  cunning  of  her  sex  in  so 
large  a  measure,  that  she  seems  to  have  mono- 
polised it  all.  And  now  I  am  a  booby,  and 
all  my  experience  is  of  less  value  than  a 
straw,  if  there  is  even  one  young  man  in 
the  eight  quarters  of  the  world  capable  of 
looking  at  her  for  an  instant  without  losing 
all  his  senses  at  one  blow;  were  he  even  the 
very  incarnation  of  asceticism.  But  as  to  this 
young  Chand,  I  have  followed  him  from  his 
childhood,  by  means  of  my  spies,  and  know 
him;  and  very  cheap  do  I  hold  his  profes- 
sions of  misogyny  and  brahmacharyam,  now 
that  his  father  is  away.  For  an  old  misog- 
ynist may  be  in  earnest,  and  actually  mean 
what  he  says,  having  been  deceived  and  be- 
trayed and  disgusted,  by  reason  of  his  experi- 


28  A  Mine  of  Faults 

ence  of  some  women  in  particular,  with  all. 
But  the  man  whose  wisdom  is  taken  at 
second-hand  from  another,  and  who  is  filled 
only  with  the  conceit  of  a  knowledge  not 
drawn  from  his  experience,  finds  it  crumble 
to  pieces  as  a  rule  at  the  very  first  touch  of 
reality  and  life,  like  sand:  since  a  single  shock 
to  any  part  of  his  imaginary  fortress  brings 
the  whole  to  the  ground  with  a  run.  For 
finding  it  untrustworthy  in  any  one  point,  he 
distrusts  it  all,  and  is  left  utterly  defenceless, 
at  the  mercy  of  his  antagonist.  And  of  all 
kinds  of  conceit,  that  of  a  youth,  himself,  as 
Chand  is,  formed  as  it  were  of  amber,  on  pur- 
pose to  attract  the  sex,  like  grass,  who  boasts 
himself  proof  against  a  woman's  glamour, 
never  even  dreaming  what  it  is  or  what  it 
means,  is  the  greatest,  and  the  shortest,  and 
the  most  easily  annihilated,  and  the  most  easily 
abandoned,  and  forgotten  and  forgiven,  both 
by  women  and  the  world.  And  thy  daughter 
will  bring  him  to  his  senses,  and  deprive  him 
of  his  reason,  in  the  same  instant  that  he  sees 
her:  for  then  he  will  suddenly  discover  what 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  29 

a  woman  means:  since  till  now,  she  has  been 
to  him  nothing  but  a  word.  And  now,  O 
King,  I  have  told  thee :  and  now  all  rests  with 
thee  alone.  For  thy  daughter  must  in  any 
case  marry  somebody:  and  where  could  be 
found  for  her  a  better  husband  than  this  very 
Chand,  whose  alliance  would  be  the  salvation 
of  the  state? 

And  when  he  ended,  after  a  while,  the  King 
said,  very  slowly:  Old  friend,  thy  words  re- 
sembled a  sword,  driven  into  my  heart.  And 
as  I  listened  to  thy  voice,  holding  up  before 
me,  like  a  skilful  painter,  the  picture  of  my 
daughter's  charm,  I  saw  in  it,  as  in  a  mirror, 
another  standing  all  the  while  beside  her,  look- 
ing at  me  all  the  while  with  the  affection  in 
her  eyes  that  I  shall  never  see  again.  And 
I  flew  back  in  an  instant,  carried  on  thy  voice, 
to  old  sweet  idle  hours,  when  like  thee  I  used 
to  sit  and  watch  and  muse,  striving  to  dis- 
cover the  essence  and  the  secret  of  that  very 
self-same  charm.  And  I  would  give  a  hun- 
dred lives  only  to  be  young  Chand,  and  have 
that  charm  employed  on  me,  again.  And  if 


30  A  Mine  of  Faults 

he  is  able  to  resist  it,  I  do  not  envy  him,  nor 
think  the  more  of  him  on  that  account.  But 
let  us  try,  and  see.  For  as  to  the  wisdom 
and  the  policy  of  what  thou  hast  proposed, 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt  of  it :  and  my  daughter 
must  alas!  be  married,  as  thou  sayest,  either 
to  another,  or  to  him.  Only  they  say,  that 
this  young  Chand  is  so  declared  an  enemy  of 
women,  as  never  even  to  suffer  any  one  of 
them  so  much  as  to  approach  him.  And  how, 
then,  is  the  charm  to  work?  For  in  magic  of 
this  kind,  the  spell  will  not  act,  unless  the 
magician  be  in  contact  with  his  object.  And 
how,  then,  shall  we  bring  about  the  meeting 
of  the  charmer  and  the  charmed? 

Then  said  Yogeshwara:  O  King,  I  have 
a  stratagem  to  meet  that  very  difficulty,  which, 
if  my  experience  is  not  utterly  at  fault,  is  the 
real,  and  the  only  one  before  us.  For  could 
we  only  place  them  in  proximity,  I  am  ready 
to  cut  my  own  head  off,  if  he  can  ever  get 
away.  And  thy  daughter  will  fall  into  the 
scheme,  and  understand  it,  almost  before  we 
begin  to  tell  her,  and  require  no  instructions, 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  3 1 

since  this  is  a  matter  in  which  she  is  wiser 
than  us  all:  and  to  go  about  to  tell  a  young 
beauty  how  to  lay  her  snares  for  her  natural 
and  proper  prey  would  be  to  give  lessons  to 
the  spider  how  to  make  his  web.  Moreover, 
I  do  not  doubt  that  she  will  take  part  in  the 
plot  not  merely  with  avidity,  but  something 
more.  For  she  has  heard,  as  who  has  not?  of 
this  young  Chand,  and  nothing  is  so  attractive 
to  the  curiosity  of  a  woman  as  a  young  woman- 
hater:  since  every  woman  thinks,  in  her  heart, 
that  she  could  perhaps  persuade  him  to  count 
her  an  exception  to  his  rule,  and  every  woman 
in  her  heart  partly  agrees  with  him,  since,  if 
she  could  have  chosen,  she  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  be  a  man.  And  women  have  been 
adorers,  since  the  beginning,  of  exactly  such 
young  warriors  of  whom  he  is  the  type. 

So,  then,  by  Yogeshwara's  advice,  King 
Mitra  sent  an  answer  to  the  message  of  King 
Chand,  saying:  That  King  Mitra  was  ready 
to  accede  to  all  King  Chand's  demands,  and 
pay  him  tribute  in  any  such  form  as  he  might 
choose,  if  only  King  Chand  would  come  up 


32  A  Mine  of  Faults 

in  person,  under  the  safe-conduct  of  King 
Mitra,  to  require  it.  For  the  matter  would 
touch,  in  its  adjustment,  the  honour  of  both 
families,  and  the  hereditary  differences  could 
only  be  determined  by  personal  arrangement 
on  the  spot. 

And  when  Chand  got  his  answer,  he  said 
to  his  ministers:  See,  now,  everything  is 
settled,  though  I  would  rather  have  settled 
it  by  arms.  But  as  it  is,  now,  by  all  means, 
I  will  go  up,  and  give  him  the  personal  inter- 
view he  asks.  For  I  have  never  yet  been 
among  his  hills,  nor  seen  his  capital:  more- 
over, it  is  only  fair  to  make  concessions  to 
pride  willing  to  be  humbled,  and  families 
careful  of  their  honour. 

And  his  ministers  consulted  together,  and 
they  said:  Maharaj,  doubtless,  the  safe- 
conduct  of  King  Mitra  is  unexceptionable, 
and  above  suspicion:  for  he  is  a  man  of  his 
word.  And  yet,  be  on  thy  guard.  For 
though  Ring  Mitra  be  incapable  of  deceit, 
his  minister,  Yogeshwara,  has  almost  as  much 
craft  as  the  Creator.  For  though  he  could 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  33 

not  make  a  world,  he  could  preserve  it,  once 
it  was  made,  almost  as  well  as  its  maker,  so 
unfathomable  is  his  policy  and  guile.  More- 
over, King  Mitra  has  a  daughter,  who  re- 
sembles his  minister  in  being  an  incarnation 
of  deception,  only  in  a  different  form.  For 
feminine  beauty  has  befooled  more  men  than 
were  ever  beguiled  by  any  other  form  of  fasci- 
nation or  illusion.  Therefore  beware!  for  we 
think  it  probable  that  a  snare  has  been 
prepared  for  thee. 

And  Chand  laughed,  and  exclaimed:  I  am 
obliged  to  ye  all,  for  your  wisdom  and  ad- 
vice, and  now  I  am  warned.  But  the  matter 
is  very  simple,  being  wholly  an  affair  of  force, 
and  mine  is  by  far  the  greater.  Therefore 
there  is  no  room  at  all  for  me  to  be  beguiled, 
even  by  Yogeshwara.  And  as  to  the  daughter, 
little  do  I  fear  her.  For  I  have  an  armour 
of  proof  around  my  heart,  so  thick,  that  never 
an  arrow  from  her  quiver  can  so  much  as 
reach  it,  were  it  sharpened  even  by  the  very 
God  of  Love. 

And  then,  the  God,  whose  banner  bears  a 


34  A  Mine  of  Faults 

bull  on  it,1  paused.  And  he  said:  O  Snowy 
one,  it  chanced,  that  when  Chand  uttered  this 
brag,  it  was  the  season  of  Spring,  who,  with 
his  flowers  and  his  buds,  was  all  around  him 
as  he  spoke.  And  as  fate  would  have  it,  he 
was  overheard  by  Love  himself,  who  was 
hovering  near  him  in  the  air;  for  he  happened 
to  be  paying  a  visit  to  his  friend.2 

So  when  that  god  of  the  bee-strung  bow 
heard  him,  he  said  to  Madhu :  O  Madhu,  who 
is  this  boaster,  who  claims,  notwithstanding 
his  extreme  youth,  to  be  proof  against  me 
and  my  weapons? 3  For  thou  hast  been  here 
longer  than  I,  who  have  only  just  arrived. 

And  Madhu  told  him  all  about  King  Chand, 
and  his  antipathy  to  women. 

And  when  Love  heard  it,  he  looked  at  Chand 
for  a  long  time,  with  very  great  attention. 
And  after  a  while,  he  said:  O  Madhu,  it  is 


*t.  e.,  Maheshwara. 

*i.  e.,  Spring.  Kama  and  Madhu — Love  and  Spring 
— are  sworn  friends  in  Hindoo  mythology:  an  obvious 
poetical  allegory,  like  the  ver  and  Venus  of  the  old 
Romans. 

3t.  e.,  women. 


An  Instrument  of  Policy  35 

very  singular  to  hear  such  overweening  and 
presumptuous  words,  falling  from  the  mouth 
of  such  a  youth  as  this.  For  he  is  exactly 
the  man  who  in  my  hands  would  be  a  deadly 
weapon  against  almost  any  member  of  that 
sex,  which  he  fancies  himself  able  to  resist. 

Then  said  Madhu:  Perhaps  it  is  not  only 
fancy.  For  often  have  I  laid  snares  for  him, 
but  always  without  success. 

And  Love  laughed,  with  lips  that  curled 
in  derision  like  his  own  bow.  And  he  said: 
Dear  Madhu,  thou  shouldst  have  come  to  me, 
for  aid.  Thou  art  but  half  thyself,  without 
thy  friend.  And  he  looked  at  Chand,  out  of 
the  long  corner  of  his  eye,  that  resembled  a 
woman's.  And  he  said:  I  have  an  affection 
for  these  arrogant  youths,  for  it  is  my  hobby 
and  my  delight  to  bring  them  to  submission. 
And  now  I  will  teach  him  a  lesson,  in  his 
own  art  of  war,  that  he  has  still  to  learn,  not 
to  despise  his  enemy;  and  prove  to  him,  by 
my  own  favourite  method  of  ocular  demon- 
stration, that  a  woman  and  my  deity  are  more 
than  match  for  greater  force  than  his.  And 


36  A  Mine  of  Faults 

indeed,  the  conjunction1  is  altogether  fortu- 
nate. For  it  so  happens  that  I  have  by  me, 
just  ready  for  him,  a  new  just-opened  flower- 
intoxicant  in  the  form  of  a  young  woman, 
whose  exasperating  eyebrows  alone,  unless  I 
am  much  mistaken,  will  shoot,  in  spite  of  his 
glorious  brag,  a  poisoned  shaft  into  his  heart, 
and  sticking  there,  will  sting  it,  with  such  in- 
tolerable pain,  as  will  hardly  be  assuaged  by 
a  very  storm  of  secret  kisses,  rained  on  the 
flame  of  his  desire,  or  dropped  on  his  fainting 
soul,  one  by  one,  with  snow-flake  touch,  of 
pity  and  compassion,  from  her  dainty  and 
reluctant  lips. 

1  An  astrological  term,  which  in  modern  Marathi,  well 
known  to  the  god,  means  a  marriage. 


A   Diplomatic  Interview 


A  Diplomatic  Interview 
I 

AND  Maheshwara  said:  So  then,  on  a  day 
appointed,  in  the  light  half  of  the  month  of 
Chaitra,1  King  Chand  and  his  retinue  arrived 
at  the  capital  of  King  Mitra,  just  as  his  an- 
cestor the  sun  was  rising  over  the  hills  on 
which  it  stood.  And  at  the  gates,  Yogesh- 
wara  was  waiting,  barefooted,  with  an  escort, 
to  do  him  honour,  and  food  and  drink  of  every 
description,  to  refresh  him.  And  he  intro- 
duced himself  by  name  and  family,  and  said: 
O  King,  thy  coming  here  is  altogether  fortu- 
nate. For  see,  the  Lord  of  Day  rises  auspi- 
ciously on  one  side,  as  if  to  greet  and  wel- 
come his  descendant  and  rival  on  the  other. 

1 A  spring  month,  our  April,  devoted  especially  to  mar- 
riages. 

39 


40  A  Mine  of  Faults 

And  now  my  old  eyes  are  as  it  were  dazzled,  by 
two  rising  suns.  And  Chand  said :  I  marvel, 
that  my  very  great  grandfather  has  not  long 
ago  died,  of  sheer  fatigue,  being  obliged  to 
climb  up  here  every  day  to  reach  thee,  as  I 
have  now.  For  thy  capital  is  one  that  de- 
serves to  be  inhabited  by  birds,  rather  than 
by  men,  and  now  the  world  lies,  as  it  seems, 
beneath  us  in  the  clouds. 

And  when  they  were  sufficiently  refreshed, 
Yogeshwara  handed  over  King  Chand's  at- 
tendants to  his  own,  and  said:  Maharaj,  as 
for  thee,  I  will  myself  be  thy  guide,  for  I 
have  matters  to  say  to  thee  in  private,  which, 
but  for  his  age,  our  King  would  have  been 
here  to  say  to  thee  himself.  And  as  he  led 
the  King  away,  Chand  said  to  him:  O 
Yogeshwara,  though  to-day  I  see  thee  for  the 
very  first  time,  fame  has  told  me  of  thee  much ; 
and  they  say,  that  thou  art  a  very  mine  of 
craft,  with  a  soul  as  full  of  snares  as  is  a 
hunter's  net  of  holes.  And  now  I  am  afraid 
of  thee  and  of  thy  net. 

And   Yogeshwara   laughed,    and    he   said: 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  41 

King,  those  who  transact  the  business  of 
states,  even  for  a  very  little  while,  make 
enemies:  how  much  more  one  who  like  me  has 
borne  the  burden  of  this  kingdom  on  his 
shoulders  all  his  life!  And  it  is  these  enemies 
of  mine,  who  calumniate  me,  saying  that  I 
am  crafty:  for  all  my  friends  know  that  I 
am  a  very  simple  old  man,  who  desires  nothing 
more  than  to  shift  his  burden  on  to  other 
shoulders,  and  spend  his  life's  evening  in  the 
practice  of  austerities:  which,  if  only  the  Lord 
of  Obstacles  be  favourable  for  just  a  very 
little  longer,  I  shall  presently  do.  But  as  for 
difficult  affairs,  the  King  my  master  leaves 
them  in  abler  hands  than  mine,  as  in  the 
present  case,  with  which  I  have  no  more  to 
do  than  just  to  be  thy  guide,  as  now  I  am, 
to  the  minister  entrusted  with  its  management. 
For  our  King's  family  and  thine  are  hered- 
itary enemies,  and  there  are  some  matters  to 
be  settled  of  extreme  delicacy,  such  as  can  only 
be  adjusted  by  one,  in  whose  especial  care  the 
honour  of  the  family  is  placed.  And  there 
is  but  one,  qualified  to  deal  with  this  affair, 


42  A  Mine  of  Faults 

and  it  is,  as  thou  hast  doubtless  anticipated, 
no  other  than  the  Guru 1  of  the  King :  to 
whom,  therefore,  I  am  commissioned  now  to 
lead  thee.  And  Yogeshwara  paused,  for  a 
moment,  and  he  said:  Maharaj,  it  is  known 
to  thee,  who  art  versed  in  affairs,  how  import- 
ant, in  matters  of  this  kind,  is  absolute  secrecy. 
Now,  eavesdroppers  and  busybodies  abound,  in 
this  city.  And  therefore,  it  is  given  out,  that 
thy  reception  will  take  place  in  the  palace 
hall,  where  everything  has  been  accordingly 
prepared,  to  throw  everybody  off  the  scent. 
But  in  the  meantime,  while  all  faces  are  turned 
in  that  direction,  I  am  instructed  to  conduct 
thee,  at  the  very  instant  of  thy  arrival,  to  a 
place  least  of  all  to  be  suspected  as  the  scene 
of  a  diplomatic  interview,  and  chosen  with  that 
object  by  the  Guru  himself,  where  he  will 
personally  settle  everything  beforehand,  with 
thee  alone.  And  in  this  way,  no  one  will  have 
had  any  time  to  penetrate  the  design,  and  the 
object  is  attained. 

1  There  is  ho  English  equivalent  for  this  terra.  A  guru 
is  the  spiritual  guide  of  the  Hindoo  family:  a  kind  of 
father  confessor. 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  43 

And  all  the  while  he  spoke,  Yogeshwara  led 
the  King  away,  by  winding  paths  that  climbed 
about  the  hill,  through  a  wood,  till  at  last  they 
reached  a  garden,  whose  air  was  loaded  with 
the  fragrance  springing  from  the  jostling 
spirits  of  innumerable  flowers  wandering  about 
at  random  like  wyabhichdris1  looking  for  their 
lover,  the  mountain  breeze,  out  of  jealousy 
lest  he  should  be  sporting  with  their  rivals. 
And  they  came  in  time  to  a  terrace  that  was 
hanging  as  it  were  suspended  on  the  very  edge 
of  a  precipice,  about  which  the  early  morn- 
ing mists  still  floated,  drifting  here  and  there, 
rising  up  out  of  the  valley,  that  stretched  like 
a  cloudy  ocean,  far  away  below.  And  on 
the  very  brink  of  that  terrace  there  stood  a 
little  arbour,  almost  buried  in  a  bushy  clump 
of  trees.  And  there  came  from  that  half- 
hidden  arbour  the  sound  of  the  humming  of 
innumerable  bees,  that  were  hanging  like 
clouds  of  another  kind  about  the  branches 
that  concealed  it,  and  clustering  around  them 

1 A  woman  who  goes  to  meet  her  lover  of  her  own 
accord. 


44  A  Mine  of  Faults 

like  troops  of  black  lovers  struggling  for  the 
favour  of  the  snowy  blossoms  which  kept 
tumbling  from  their  places  to  lie  strewn  about 
the  ground  like  pallid  corpses  slain  in  the  mad- 
ness of  excitement  by  those  boisterous  wooers, 
the  bees.  And  the  delicious  scent  of  those 
blossom-laden  mountain  bushes  was  wafted 
towards  them  in  yet  other  clouds  that  were 
invisible  to  the  eye,  seeming  to  say  by  theii 
irresistible  aroma:  What  though  you  cannot 
see  us,  we  are  not  inferior  to  our  visible  rivals, 
the  mists  and  the  bees,  in  making  this  arbour 
a  place  without  a  peer.  And  Yogeshwara 
stood  still,  and  looked  towards  it,  and  he  said : 
Maharaj,  it  is  well  chosen  by  the  Guru.  Who 
would  ever  dream  of  a  diplomatic  interview, 
in  such  a  place  as  that? 1 

And  he  looked  at  the  King,  and  laughed 
softly,  rubbing  his  hands  together.  And  he 
said:  O  King,  the  Guru,  though  he  is  very 

1  The  deception  of  Yogeshwara  was  all  the  more  likely 
to  deceive  the  King,  in  that  it  was  based  on  Hindoo  tradi- 
tional maxims.  Manu  says:  [vii.  147]  "Let  the  King, 
for  secret  council,  ascend  to  a  mountain-top,  or  a  lofty 
terrace,  or  repair  to  some  lone  wood,  where  there  are  not 
even  any  talking  birds." 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  45 

old,  would  have  been  here  before  us,  had  not 
thy  activity  in  climbing  taken  us  by  surprise, 
and  even  anticipated  the  sun.  But  now  I  will 
go  very  quickly,  and  bring  him;  and  in  the 
meantime,  the  arbour  is  empty,  and  thou  canst 
go  in  without  fear  of  any  intrusion,  before 
his  arrival.  For  I  have  taken  special  care  to 
secure  it  this  morning  from  all  interruption, 
even  of  its  owner. 

And  the  King  went  forward,  pushing  his 
way  among  the  trees.  And  as  soon  as  he  was 
lost  among  them,  Yogeshwara  went  quickly 
round  those  trees,  and  entered  them  on  tip- 
toe on  the  opposite  side,  and  hid  himself  in 
an  ambush  carefully  prepared  beforehand  for 
that  very  purpose  by  himself,  from  which  he 
could  see  and  hear  everything  that  passed 
within,  being  himself  unseen.  And  he  said  to 
himself:  Now  will  I  myself  play  the  eaves- 
dropper, unknown  to  them  both.  For  in 
matters  of  policy,  nobody  should  be  trusted, 
but  one's  own  eyes  and  ears.  And  the  best 
way  to  hear,  is  to  overhear,  and  to  see,  is  to 
peep.  And  so  will  I  make  a  third  party  to 


46  A  Mine  of  Faults 

their  interview.  And  though  my  own  diplo- 
matic interviews  could  be  numbered  by  the 
score,  certain  it  is,  that  I  cannot  recollect  one, 
to  which  I  looked  forward  with  even  half  such 
anxiety  as  this. 


II 


BUT  in  the  meanwhile,  Chand  went  through 
the  trees,  towards  the  arbour.  And  he  said 
to  himself:  Is  it  a  snare?  Or  can  King 
Mitra  be  intending  to  break  his  own  safe- 
conduct?  But  in  any  case,  I  cannot  exhibit 
any  fear,  or  even  suspicion.  For  what  this 
old  man  says,  is  plausible,  and  may,  possibly, 
be,  after  all,  the  truth:  and  then,  I  should  be 
utterly  ashamed. 

And  then  he  came  to  the  arbour,  and  saw, 
in  the  wall  towards  him,  a  door.  And  as  he 
looked  carefully  about,  he  saw,  that  the  arbour 
stood  exactly  on  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  having 
only  three  walls,  and  being  absolutely  with- 
out a  wall  on  the  side  that  ran  along  the 
cliff,  looking  down  into  the  gorge.  And  he 
paused,  before  he  entered,  saying  to  himself: 
Ha!  From  this  arbour,  as  it  seems,  it  would 
not  be  difficult  even  to  fall,  without  intending 

47 


48  A  Mine  of  Faults 

it.  And  now,  a  man  might  also  very  easily 
be  thrown  from  it,  down  into  that  dizzy  gulf 
below.  And  therefore,  it  becomes  me  to  be 
very  wary,  and  on  my  guard. 

And  then,  he  went  up,  and  entered,  cau- 
tiously, the  door.  And  no  sooner  had  he  set 
his  foot  upon  the  marble  floor  within,  than  he 
started,  and  stood  still,  saying  to  himself: 
Ha!  there  is  a  woman  in  the  arbour.  And 
now,  I  see,  that  it  is  exactly  as  I  thought,  a 
snare,  though  not  of  the  kind  that  I  an- 
ticipated. And  as  my  ministers  said,  this 
Yogeshwara  has  led  me  straight  into  a  trap, 
with  a  woman  for  a  bait.  For  as  he  looked, 
he  saw,  at  the  far  end  of  the  arbour,  what 
seemed  to  be  a  woman,  kneeling  on  the  floor, 
with  her  back  towards  him,  and  bending  over 
a  great  basket  that  resembled  an  enormous 
yellow  gourd,  filled  with  flowers  to  the  brim. 
And  the  whole  floor  was  strewn  all  over  with 
flowers  of  every  kind  and  colour,  lying  every- 
where in  heaps. 

And  at  the  very  moment  that  his  foot  on 
entering  touched  the  floor,  as  if  roused  by  the 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  49 

sound  of  its  tread,  she  turned  her  head  as  she 
kneeled,  and  looked  round,  and  saw  him.  And 
instantly  she  sprang  like  a  flash  of  lightning 
to  her  feet,  with  a  shrill  cry.  And  she  bounded 
like  a  deer  to  the  precipice,  and  stood,  facing 
him,  balanced  on  its  extreme  verge,  with  both 
hands  full  of  flowers,  and  both  eyes  opened 
wide,  like  circles,  filled  to  the  very  brim  with 
blue  dismay,  and  her  two  brows  lifted  to  her 
hair  with  utter  amazement,  and  terror  as  it 
were  written  on  every  line  of  her  body,  that 
quivered  all  over  as  if  on  the  very  eve  of  an- 
other bound.  And  she  looked  exactly  like  a 
wild  mountain  antelope,  suddenly  taken  by 
surprise,  cut  off  from  its  retreat,  and  just  in 
the  very  act  of  escaping  its  pursuer,  by  leap- 
ing straight  into  the  gulf  below,  and  taking, 
as  it  were,  one  last  look  of  terrified  despair 
at  the  cause  of  its  destruction,  just  before  she 
disappeared. 

So  as  she  stood,  absolutely  still,  like  a  virgin 
incarnation  of  outraged  seclusion,  the  King's 
suspicions  vanished,  at  the  very  sight  of  her, 
and  his  heart  reproached  him  for  her  coming 


50  A  Mine  of  Faults 

death.  And  he  said  to  himself :  I  was  wrong : 
for  it  is  beyond  all  doubt  that  I  have  fright- 
ened her,  almost  to  the  point  of  self-destruc- 
tion :  as  what  are  women,  after  all,  but  cowards 
to  the  core?  And  if  I  stay  another  moment, 
it  seems  certain  that  she  will  fall,  even  if  she 
does  not  leap  in  terror,  into  that  awful  gulf, 
on  whose  very  verge  it  makes  me  dizzy  even 
to  see  her  standing,  how,  I  cannot  think. 
Therefore  I  will  go  away  at  once,  without  de- 
lay. And  as  he  so  determined,  he  cast  upon 
her  a  single  glance  of  contempt  mingled  with 
disdain,  just  before  turning  to  go  away. 

And  in  that  brief  moment  of  hesitation,  he 
gave  the  God  of  Love  his  opportunity,  and 
was  lost  beyond  recall.  For  as  he  looked 
carelessly  towards  her,  all  at  once,  all  his  con- 
tempt and  disdain  suddenly  disappeared,  giv- 
ing place  to  curiosity,  that  gradually  changed 
into  amazement,  and  then  wonder,  so  that  in- 
stead of  turning,  he  stood  himself  absolutely 
still,  as  if  to  imitate  her,  lost  in  his  own  eyes, 
and  resembling  a  picture  painted  on  a  wall. 
And  all  at  once,  a  doubt  suddenly  rose  into 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  51 

his  heart,  so  that  he  said  to  himself  silently: 
Is  it  a  woman  after  all?  For  as  he  gazed  at 
her,  her  figure  stood  out,  sharp  and  clear, 
against  the  background  of  the  sky,  and  the 
empty  space  all  round  her  and  below  her,  so 
that  she  seemed  to  hang  in  air,  poised  some- 
how on  the  border  of  her  garments  that  con- 
cealed her  feet  on  the  very  edge  of  that  dizzy 
steep.  And  she  was  clothed  in  one  long  soft 
robe  of  dark  red  silk,  out  of  whose  mass  her 
two  bare  slender  arms  that  held  in  their 
clenched  hands  her  flowers  stood  like  in- 
comparable curves  of  alabaster,  round,  and 
miraculously  still,  and  edged  as  it  were  with 
delicate  distinctness  as  if  by  a  sudden  stroke 
of  the  Creator's  chisel  against  the  void  be- 
hind them.  And  all  about  the  graceful  upper 
portion  of  her  body  and  her  head  was  cling- 
ing, like  a  cloud  that  had  crept  up  to  embrace 
her  out  of  the  misty  sea  below  and  settled 
affectionately  in  soft  and  loving  folds  about 
her,  a  veil,  that  was  woven  as  it  seemed  out 
of  golden  films  of  the  gauze  of  the  setting 
sun,  fastened  to  her  head  by  what  seemed  to 


52  A  Mine  of  Faults 

be  an  inverted  silver  moon,  and  through  it  he 
could  just  discern  against  the  slender  slope  of 
her  shoulder  the  swelling  outline  of  her  shy 
right  breast,  shrinking  beneath  it  as  if  in  utter 
shame  at  the  outrageous  immodesty  of  its 
sister  on  the  left,  which  owing  to  her  attitude 
was  thrown  out  defiantly  towards  him,  as  if 
to  invite  his  admiration,  and  saying  to  him: 
Find  fault  with  my  pure  and  perfect  maiden 
circle  if  you  can. 

And  then,  that  very  thing  happened,  which 
had  been  predicted  by  the  God  of  Love.  For 
all  at  once,  the  tall  twin  semicircles  of  her 
curving  inky  brow,  on  which  astonishment  sat 
motionless,  as  if  unwilling  to  go  away,  struck 
him  also  with  extreme  surprise,  so  that  like 
a  mirror  of  herself  he  gazed  at  it,  with  his 
own  brow  raised  in  imitation  unaware,  saying 
to  himself:  Why,  it  exactly  resembles  a  bent 
bow,  drawn  to  the  very  breaking  point,  as  if 
to  discharge  a  shaft.  And  at  that  very  mo- 
ment, her  blue  eyes  struck  him  to  the  heart. 
For  there  suddenly  began  to  pour  into  his 
soul,  from  underneath  that  strange  intoxicat- 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  53 

ing  bow,  a  flood  of  deep  blue,  and  he  utterly 
forgot,  as  he  looked  straight  into  it,  what  he 
was  about,  or  where  he  was. 

And  at  that  exact  moment,  the  Agitator  of 
the  Soul,1  who,  unseen  himself,  was  watching 
him  intently,  poised  in  the  abyss,  a  little  way 
from  the  arbour's  edge,  became  himself  vio- 
lently agitated.  And  he  murmured  softly, 
clasping  his  two  hands  together,  with  entreaty 
and  emotion:  O  Wayu,2  help  me  now,  by 
some  trick  of  thy  art.  For  yonder  my  victim 
stands,  balanced,  exactly  like  herself,  on  the 
very  brink  of  the  precipice  of  passion,  and  a 
single  touch  will  plunge  him,  headlong,  into 
its  boiling  whirl. 

And  the  Wind  heard  his  prayer,  and  came 
suddenly  to  his  assistance.  For  all  at  once, 
there  leaped  up  out  of  that  valley  of  mist  a 
gust,  that  caught  the  garments  of  that  slender 
beauty  standing  still  upon  its  edge,  and  tossed 
them  into  folds  that  fluttered  round  her  lovely 
limbs,  betraying  all  their  undulating  lines  and 

^Manmatha:  the  God  of  Love,  the  Churner  of  the  Soul. 
»  The  God  of  the  Wind, 


54  A  Mine  of  Faults 

hills  and  hollows,  making  her  round  breasts 
rounder,  and  adding  curve  to  her  curving  hips, 
tearing  away  the  curtain  from  her  beauty,  and 
carving  as  it  were  her  statue  out  of  the  soft 
substance  of  her  clinging  red  silk  robe.  And 
it  lifted,  just  a  very  little,  that  provoking 
curtain's  lower  edge,  and  showed  him,  for  only 
a  single  instant,  her  two  tiny  feet,  with  their 
ankles,  standing  timidly  together,  and  then 
dropped  it  again,  as  if  ashamed.  And  Kama- 
dewa  murmured  in  delight:  Well  done,  O 
admirable  Wayu;  again,  once  more.  And 
once  again  the  Wind  obeyed  him.  For  it 
caught  up,  suddenly,  a  wisp  of  cloud,  float- 
ing past  as  if  on  purpose  to  oblige  the  God 
of  Love,  and  tore  it  and  sent  it,  driving  and 
curling,  a  little  way  above  her  pretty  head, 
between  her  and  the  sun.  And  the  shadows 
of  that  broken  cloud  suddenly  ran  over  her, 
and  showed  her  for  an  instant  to  the  King, 
now  bathed  in  the  kisses  of  the  young  sun's 
colour,  now  darkened,  as  if  by  jealousy,  by 
the  shadows  of  the  cloud,  that  envied  as  it 
were  the  kisses  of  the  sun. 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  55 

And  all  at  once,  as  the  King  gazed  at  her 
like  one  in  a  trance,  she  spoke.  And  she  said, 
in  a  low  voice,  that  trembled  as  if  at  its  own 
sound:  Sir,  this  arbour  is  mine,  and  sacred, 
and  forbidden  to  all  but  me  alone.  And 
doubtless,  thou  hast  *  intruded  by  accident, 
rather  than  design. 

And  Chand  looked  at  her  as  she  spoke,  like 
a  man  stunned  by  a  blow:  all  unaware  that 
she,  and  the  Wind,  and  Love,  and  Spring 
were  all  in  conspiracy  against  him.  And  he 
hardly  understood  the  meaning  of  her  words. 
But  he  said  to  himself,  as  he  looked  at  her 
in  confusion:  Was  there  ever  before  heard 
in  the  world  a  sound  like  that  low  delicious 
frightened  voice? 

And  for  a  single  instant,  he  looked  straight 
into  her  eyes.  And  he  wavered,  and  hesi- 
tated, knowing  neither  what  to  say,  nor  what 
to  do.  And  all  at  once,  he  bowed  to  her,  and 
turned  round,  and  went  away  without  a  word, 
the  way  he  came. 

And  seeing  him  go,  Yogeshwara  in  his  am- 
bush bit  his  lip  with  annoyance.  And  he  said 


56  A  Mine  of  Faults 

to  himself:  Why,  what  on  earth  is  she  about? 
For  she  has  actually  driven  him  away,  almost 
before  he  had  arrived. 

But  the  son  of  Brahma1  looked  after  him, 
as  he  went,  with  exultation,  and  a  mocking 
smile.  And  he  said:  Excellent  Wayu,  thy 
delicious  touches  have  finished  him.  And  now, 
my  business  is  done,  and  I  need  stay  no  longer. 
Let  him  go,  if  he  will :  he  will  soon  be  back,  of 
his  own  accord.  Now,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
three  worlds  strong  enough  to  keep  him  away. 

And  the  Daughter  of  the  Mountain  said 
softly  to  her  lord:  See,  how  Kandarpa2  is 
always  just  the  same,  merciless,  and  jeering 
at  his  unhappy  victims,  and  adding  insult  to 
his  injury,  and  fearing  no  retaliation,  secure 
of  impunity.  For  well  he  knows,  that  his 
body  cannot  again  be  reduced  to  ashes,  seein'g 
that  men  and  women  have  only  two  eyes  each.3 

1t.  e.,  Love.  2i.  e.,  Love. 

3  i.  e.,  they  all  lack  Maheshwara's  third  eye,  which  con- 
sumed Love's  body  with  a  fiery  glance,  when  the  audacious 
little  deity  dared  to  inspire  the  Great  God  himself  with 
passion  for  Parwati  as  she  stood  before  him. 


Ill 


Bur  in  the  meanwhile,  no  sooner  had  the 
King  turned  his  back  upon  the  terrace  with 
its  arbour,  than  all  at  once,  his  feet  stopped, 
as  it  were,  of  their  own  accord,  as  if  in  their 
unwillingness  to  go  away,  they  had  suddenly 
become  rooted  in  the  ground.  And  so  he  re- 
mained standing,  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the 
ground  before  him,  and  a  soul,  out  of  which 
everything  had  utterly  disappeared,  except 
the  picture  of  what  he  had  left  behind  him, 
standing  on  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  And  he 
had  totally  forgotten  Yogeshwara,  and  the 
King's  Guru,  and  everything  else,  so  in- 
tense was  his  preoccupation  and  his  endeavour 
to  reconstruct  that  picture  in  his  mind.  And 
as  he  stood  striving  to  recall  it,  all  unawares 
he  smiled,  so  great  was  his  pleasure  in  its 
recollection.1  And  he  murmured  to  himself: 

1  The  English  reader  should  bear  in  mind,  that,  in  San- 
skrit, recollection  and  love  are  often,  as  here,  denoted  by 
the  same  word. 

57 


$8  A  Mine  of  Faults 

Strange!  that  I  cannot,  I  know  not  why,  re- 
collect anything  about  her,  with  exact  ac- 
curacy, except  those  delicious,  and,  somehow 
or  other,  bewildering,  and  as  it  were,  pro- 
voking brows  of  hers,  with  their  two  sur- 
prising arches.  For  I  had  no  time  to  examine 
the  rest  of  her  attentively;  and  moreover,  the 
blue  colour  of  her  eyes,  in  which  I  seemed  to 
flounder,  confused  my  soul,  and  stood  before 
it  like  a  mist,  in  which  I  could  see  absolutely 
nothing  else.  And  yet,  if  I  recollect  cor- 
rectly, the  double  curve  of  her  brow  was  as 
it  were  repeated,  in  her  lips,  which  resembled 
a  miniature  reproduction  of  her  brow,  only 
red  instead  of  black,  and  in  her  soft  round 
bosom,  and  even  all  about  her,  so  that 
she  seemed  to  be  a  thing  composed  en- 
tirely of  twin  curves,  beginning  from  her 
brow. 

And  so  as  he  stood,  all  at  once  there  arose 
in  his  soul  an  intense  desire  to  look  at  her 
again,  mixed  with  extreme  regret,  and  sorrow, 
for  his  own  abrupt  departure.  And  he  was 
enraged  with  himself,  feeling  like  one  that  had 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  59 

missed  an  opportunity  that  could  never  again 
recur,  and  he  stood  with  a  soul  sick  with  long- 
ing to  return,  and  disinclination  to  go  away, 
mixed  with  shame  at  the  thought  of  return- 
ing. And  he  muttered  to  himself:  Alas! 
where  was  the  necessity  of  going  away  with 
such  extraordinary  precipitation?  Why  did 
I  not  wait  a  little  while?  Surely  I  was  a 
fool.  And  what  is  to  be  done  now?  And 
I  wonder  what  she  is  doing.  Who  knows, 
whether  she  is  still  there,  having  perhaps  gone 
away  herself,  somehow  or  other,  as  soon  as  I 
had  gone? 

So  as  he  stood,  in  perplexity,  debating  with 
himself,  all  at  once,  his  face  lit  up,  as  it  were, 
with  a  smile  of  satisfaction.  And  he  ex- 
claimed in  delight:  Ha!  I  have  suddenly 
discovered  a  pretext,  under  cover  of  which  I 
can  return,  and  thus  create  another  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  her,  if  only  she  is  still 
there. 

And  instantly  he  turned  round,  and  went 
back  towards  the  arbour  as  it  were  with  joy- 
ous step,  and  a  soul  in  exultation  at  the 


60  A  Mine  of  Faults 

anticipation  of  seeing  her  again,  mixed  with 
intense  anxiety,  lest,  when  he  entered,  the 
arbour  should  be  empty,  and  she  have  gone 
away. 


IV 


AND  when  he  entered  the  arbour  once  more, 
and  saw  her  again,  this  time,  at  the  very  sight 
of  her,  his  heart  trembled  with  delight,  saying 
to  itself,  as  if  with  relief:  Ah!  she  is  still 
there.  And  she  was  standing  almost  exactly 
in  the  attitude  in  which  she  stood  before,  save 
only,  that  she  was  not  quite  so  close  to  the 
brink  of  the  abyss.  But  she  made  a  step 
towards  it,  as  he  entered,  turning,  and  taking, 
as  it  were,  her  stand  beside  it,  as  much  as  to 
say:  Here  is  my  friend,  and  my  defender, 
and  my  refuge.  And  all  the  surprise  had 
vanished  from  her  face:  and  instead  of  it,  the 
eyes,  with  which  she  looked  at  him  in  doubt, 
were  full  of  dark  suspicion  and  distrust,  mixed 
with  apprehension.  And  they  watched  him, 
with  close  attention,  as  if  she  expected  that, 
like  a  panther,  he  might  make  a  sudden  spring 
upon  her,  before  she  could  escape.  And  she 

6s 


62  A  Mine  of  Faults 

seemed  to  say  to  him,  with  silent  alarm  and 
indignation:  What!  has  he  actually  returned? 
Ha!  it  is  as  I  feared.  And  now,  my  only 
refuge  lies  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  gorge. 

And  then,  as  if  afraid  lest  she  should  put 
her  threat  into  execution,  out  of  terror,  be- 
fore he  could  prevent  her,  the  King  said 
hastily:  O  mountain  maiden,  do  not  be  afraid, 
to  see  me  return:  for  I  have  done  so,  only 
because  I  was  ashamed,  first,  for  having 
broken  in  upon  thy  privacy,  and  then  again, 
still  more,  for  having  left  thee  so  abruptly, 
without  explaining  or  excusing  my  intrusion. 
And  if  I  am  guilty,  I  am  not  without 
excuse:  nor  myself  the  one  to  blame:  since  I 
was  brought  here  by  the  minister,  Yogesh- 
wara,  who  told  me  to  expect  in  this  arbour 
the  arrival  of  the  Guru  of  the  King.  And 
being  an  utter  stranger,  I  know  not,  if  I  go 
away  alone,  whither  to  turn  my  steps.  But 
in  any  case,  I  do  adjure  thee,  to  dismiss  thy 
apprehension:  since  thou  hast  absolutely  no 
occasion  at  all  for  alarm. 

And  while  he  spoke,   she  stood,  listening, 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  63 

with  suspicion,  to  his  apology:  and  when  he 
finished,  all  at  once,  she  turned  upon  him  like 
a  fury,  and  exclaimed,  stamping  her  little  foot 
upon  the  ground:  And  how  dared  Yogesh- 
wara  bring  thee  to  my  arbour?  Did  I  not 
refuse,  when  he  begged  me  to  lend  it  him,  and 
yet,  has  he  had  the  audacity  to  borrow  it, 
against  my  will?  and  use  it,  as  an  inn,  for 
passing  strangers?  And  as  the  King  stood, 
aghast,  amazed  at  the  sudden  storm  of  in- 
dignation that  fell  upon  him,  like  a  traveller 
overtaken  by  a  thundercloud,  yet  all  the  while 
wondering  at  the  beauty  of  the  lightning 
threatening  to  strike  him,  all  at  once,  recollec- 
tion suddenly  brought  into  his  mind,  what 
Yogeshwara  had  said  to  him,  just  before  he 
went  away.  And  he  murmured  to  himself: 
Apparently  the  owner  of  this  arbour,  notwith- 
standing Yogeshwara's  diligence,  is  before  me 
after  all,  and  certainly  this  arbour  is,  as  it 
seems,  the  very  last  place  to  which  I  should 
have  come.  And  as  he  thought,  all  at  once 
she  said  to  him,  with  irritation:  And  who 
then  art  thou,  whom  he  has  placed  here,  as  if 


64  A  Mine  of  Faults 

on  purpose  to  disturb  me,  and  terrify  me  and 
annoy  me? 

And  as  the  King  looked  at  her,  he  said  to 
himself:  Now  I  shall  pay  for  Yogeshwara's 
impertinence.  And  I  feel  like  a  culprit  before 
her,  and  yet,  somehow  or  other,  her  anger 
is  delightful,  like  that  of  a  child  whose  toy 
is  broken,  about  to  fly  into  a  passion  with 
anyone  it  sees.  And  he  said:  O  maiden,  be 
not  angry  with  the  innocent.  For  I  am  only 
Chand  the  son  of  Chand,  arrived  here  this 
very  morning  on  a  visit  of  importance  to  thy 
King. 

And  as  he  spoke,  she  started  with  surprise: 
and  then  all  at  once,  as  he  watched  her,  all 
her  anger  suddenly  disappeared.  And  a 
smile,  like  that  of  one  who  recollects,  crept 
over  her  face:  and  she  dropped  all  her  flowers 
upon  the  floor,  and  began  to  clap  her  hands. 
And  she  exclaimed:  Ha!  now  I  remember, 
and  who  else  could  it  be?  And  I  wonder  that 
I  did  not  think  of  it  before:  since  they  say, 
King  Chand  is  a  giant,  and  thy  size  is,  as 
it  were,  thy  guarantee,  and  the  proof  of  thy 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  65 

words.  And  now,  then,  I  will  solve  thy  pro- 
blem, in  the  matter  of  this  arbour,  by  instantly 
going  away  myself,  and  leaving  it  to  thee:  to 
await  by  thyself  the  arrival  of  the  Guru:  for 
as  to  Yogeshwara,  he  shall  learn  another  time, 
the  danger  of  employing  my  arbour  as  an 
inn. 

And  instantly,  she  drew  her  veil  around  her 
face,1  and  came  very  quickly  towards  him, 
to  pass  by  him,  and  escape  by  the  door.  But 
Chand  put  out  his  hand,  as  though  to  stop 
her,  exclaiming:  O  daughter  of  King  Mitra, 
for  I  cannot  doubt  that  thou  art  she,  I  should 
be  altogether  inexcusable,  if  I  came  here  only 
to  deprive  thee,  and  as  it  were,  expel  thee 
from  thy  arbour  by  my  coming.  See  now, 
I  will  myself  depart  the  very  moment  that 
the  Guru  arrives:  and  in  the  meantime,  wilt 
thou  not  dismiss  thy  alarm  and  indignation, 


1  Nothing  in  India  is  so  delightful  as  the  grace  with 
which  the  women,  even  the  oldest  and  the  ugliest,  handle 
that  part  of  their  garment  that  serves  them  for  a  veil. 
It  is  an  everlasting  beauty  to  see  them,  as  they  walk 
along  the  street,  quietly  drawing  it  around  them:  a  thing 
lost  among  us  altogether,  like  its  motive. 


66  A  Mine  of  Faults 

and  suffer  me  to  remain  with  thee,  till  he 
appears? 

And  as  he  spoke,  Yogeshwara  in  his  am- 
bush exclaimed  in  delight:  Ha!  I  did  her 
wrong,  and  she  is  very  clever.  For  now  she 
has  brought  him  to  the  point  of  begging  for 
permission  to  remain,  never  dreaming,  that  that 
is  exactly  what  she  wishes  him  to  do  herself. 
And  I  thought  that  she  had  driven  him  away: 
but  she,  like  a  skilful  angler,  knew,  that  the 
hook  was  already  in  the  jaws  of  her  royal 
fish. 


So  as  the  King  spoke,  with  imploring  eyes, 
and  entreaty  in  his  voice,  she  turned  suddenly 
towards  him,  and  began  as  it  were  to  examine 
him,  with  curiosity  and  amazement.  And 
after  a  while  she  said,  as  if  with  incredulity: 
Have  my  own  ears  turned  traitors,  and  is  it 
now,  that  they  are  playing  me  false,  or  was 
it  then,  when,  as  I  thought,  I  heard  thee  name 
thyself  King  Chand  the  son  of  Chand?  And 
Chand  said:  Nay,  but  I  am  actually  he. 
And  she  laughed  scornfully,  and  exclaimed: 
Art  thou  absolutely  sure,  that  thou  hast  not 
mistaken  thy  identity?  Can  it  be,  that  thou 
art  really  Chand?  For  I  have  heard,  that  of 
all  companions  in  the  world,  women  are  those 
from  whom  he  most  desires  to  escape. 

And  she  looked  at  him  awhile,  with  eyes, 
of  which  he  could  not  tell,  whether  that  which 

filled  their  blue  was  disbelief  or  derision  or 

67 


68  A  Mine  of  Faults 

amusement;  and  all  at  once,  she  turned  away, 
and  went  back  to  her  basket,  and  began  once 
more  to  busy  herself  about  its  flowers,  kneel- 
ing down  beside  it.  And  after  a  while,  she 
turned  her  head  towards  him,  and  said,  shoot- 
ing at  him  a  glance  out  of  the  very  corner 
of  her  eye:  King  Chand  has  my  permission, 
if  he  chooses,  to  remain,  till  the  Guru  arrives : 
and  in  the  meanwhile,  I  crave  his  permission 
to  return  to  my  work  among  my  flowers,  in 
which  his  uninvited  entrance  interrupted  me: 
since  such  a  thing  as  I  am  is  not  fit  for  such 
a  hero  as  is  he:  nor  can  it  be  supposed  that 
conversation  such  as  mine  could  possibly  amuse 
him.  And  yet,  would  the  King  deign  to  be 
advised  by  such  a  thing  as  me,  he  would  go 
instantly  away,  without  losing  any  tune:  for 
there  is  danger  in  remaining. 

And  Chand  said :  Where,  and  of  what  na- 
ture is  the  danger?  And  as  he  spoke,  she 
turned  round,  and  bent  her  great  blue  eyes 
upon  him,  with  her  two  lips  closed,  as  though 
determined  not  to  smile,  almost  into  a  ball, 
so  that  they  exactly  resembled  a  ripe  bimba 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  69 

fruit.  And  she  seemed  as  it  were  to  say  to 
him:  Dost  thou  not  recognise,  who  is  the 
danger?  And  after  a  while,  she  turned  away, 
saying:  The  danger  is,  that  King  Chand 
may  utterly  wreck  his  reputation  for  mi- 
sogyny, by  betraying  an  inclination  for  the  so- 
ciety of  women.  For  I  think  that  his  friends 
in  the  plains  would  be  very  much  astonished; 
if  they  knew  that  he  had  actually  gone  so  far 
as  to  return  of  his  own  accord  to  an  arbour, 
out  of  which  the  unsuspected  and  abominable 
presence  of  one  of  that  insignificant  and  use- 
less sex  had  originally  driven  him. 

And  then  she  sat  in  silence,  stealing  at  him 
every  now  and  then  glances  from  eyes  he 
could  not  see,  that  resembled  soft  flashes  of 
lightning  in  the  form  of  blue  and  silent 
laughter,  from  under  the  long  lashes  which 
as  he  watched  her  he  could  see  standing  out 
from  her  round  soft  cheek  like  the  roof  of 
a  house.  And  though  she  never  laughed,  he 
knew  that  she  was  laughing  at  him,  by  that 
very  cheek,  from  which  he  could  not  take 
his  eyes,  resembling  as  it  did  a  very  incarna- 


7°  A  Mine  of  Faults 

tion  of  round,  soft,  delicious,  unpunishable 
impertinence,  that  attracted  him  with  so  ir- 
resistible a  longing  for  its  owner  that  he  could 
hardly  breathe.  And  yet  he  was  filled  with 
shame,  and  confusion,  and  rage  against  him- 
self, and  also  against  her;  and  all  the  while 
he  felt,  that  his  anger  against  her  was  as  it 
were  impotent  and  helpless,  for  his  soul  began 
as  it  were  to  turn  traitor  to  him,  going  over 
in  spite  of  himself  to  her  side.  And  so  he 
stood,  gazing  at  her  in  wrath  that  was  mixed 
with  a  smile  of  delight,  utterly  unable  either 
to  say  or  to  do  anything  at  all.  And  he 
strove  to  be  offended  with  her,  in  vain,  in 
spite  of  the  shame  and  exasperation  that  she 
was  pouring  into  his  heart.  And  so  as  he 
stood,  like  a  picture  of  wounded  pride  and 
helpless  irresolution,  all  at  once,  she  looked 
round,  and  as  it  were  caught  him  unawares, 
standing  at  her  mercy,  abashed  and  ashamed, 
the  very  target  of  her  mocking  eyes.  And 
utterly  unable  to  endure  it  any  longer,  he  sud- 
denly turned  and  ran  out  of  the  arbour,  as 
if  he  were  escaping  from  a  foe. 


VI 


AND  then,  strange!  hardly  had  he  gone  a 
few  steps  from  the  terrace,  when  again  his 
feet  stopped,  as  if  utterly  refusing  to  carry 
him  away.  And  he  stood,  burning  with  shame, 
and  anger,  and  yet  unable  to  move.  And  he 
thought  no  longer,  as  at  first,  of  her  beauty, 
but  simply  of  herself:  and  he  was  absolutely 
miserable,  feeling  that  somehow  or  other  she 
had  mastered  him;  and  his  soul  was  filled  to 
the  very  brim  with  nothing  but  her,  and  as 
it  were  kept  on  repeating  obstinately,  she,  she, 
she,  as  if  her  personality  had  filled  it  to  the 
exclusion  of  his  own.  Alas!  by  reason  of  his 
youth  and  inexperience  he  was  all  unaware, 
that  the  poison  of  Love  was  in  his  heart,  and 
beginning  to  work.  And  she  danced  as  it 
were  before  his  eyes,  and  whirled  all  round 
him,  and  sat  in  his  soul,  and  seized  upon  it 
and  its  faculties  and  senses,  and  it  was  as 

71 


72  A  Mine  of  Faults 

though  the  world  had  vanished,  leaving  in  its 
place  nothing  but  a  void,  composed  of  a  blue 
that  was  the  very  substance  of  herself.  And 
so  he  stood,  still,  like  one  torn  by  strong  chains 
in  opposite  directions,  determined  to  go  away, 
and  yet  never  moving,  and  ashamed  to  go 
back,  and  yet  drawn  by  an  irresistible  spell, 
that  whispered  as  it  were  in  his  ear:  Return: 
return.  And  so  he  stood  a  long  while,  as 
utterly  unconscious  of  everything  around  him, 
as  if  he  had  become  a  tree,  fanned  by  the 
wind. 

And  at  last,  he  turned,  and  went  back,  very 
slowly,  with  sad  and  heavy  feet,  that  moved, 
as  if  they  were  carrying  a  guilty  criminal  to 
his  own  execution.  And  when  he  reached  the 
arbour  door,  again  he  stopped,  and  stood  ir- 
resolutely near  it,  looking  out  over  the  valley, 
like  one  paralysed  by  his  own  indecision.  And 
then  at  length,  unable  to  endure  the  separation 
from  her  any  longer,  he  said  to  himself  with 
a  sigh:  Now  everything  is  quiet:  and  doubt- 
less, she  has  utterly  forgotten  all  about  me, 
thinking  me  gone,  not  again  to  return.  And 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  73 

now  no  doubt  she  will  be  working  with  her 
flowers,  just  as  she  was  at  first,  and  with  her 
back  towards  me.  Therefore,  if  I  stoop  down, 
very  carefully,  making  no  noise,  I  shall  be 
able  to  watch  her,  unobserved.  And  he 
stooped,  stealthily,  and  peeped  round  the 
edge  of  the  door. 

And  lo !  when  he  looked,  she  also  was  stand- 
ing, stooping,  almost  exactly  like  himself,  on 
the  other  side,  close  to  the  door,  and  leaning 
forward  eagerly,  with  a  great  bunch  of  flowers 
in  one  hand,  and  the  other  stretched,  like  a 
creeper,  bowing  in  the  wind  of  excitement, 
a  little  way  before  her,  watching,  as  if  with 
eager  desire,  to  see  him  return.  And  when, 
all  at  once,  their  eyes  met,  she  stood  a  little 
while  looking  at  him  exactly  like  a  child  in 
the  extremity  of  delight.  And  all  at  once, 
she  began  to  laugh,  with  low,  long,  joyous 
and  unrestrainable  laughter,  that  went  on  and 
on,  sounding  in  his  ears  like  the  murmur  of 
a  waterfall,  and  seeming  as  though  it  would 
never  stop.  And  the  King,  reduced  as  he 
was  to  the  very  lowest  depth  of  utter  shame, 


74  A  Mine  of  Faults 

and  blushing,  till  the  very  hair  seemed  to  stand 
up  upon  his  head,  found  as  it  were  a  refuge 
in  his  very  desperation.  And  he  said  to 
himself  f  I  care  not,  for  now  I  am  at 
the  very  bottom  of  the  abyss  of  shame: 
and  let  her  laugh,  if  she  will,  at  me,  or 
anything  in  the  three  worlds:  so  only  that 
I  listen  to  her,  and  am  here,  to  look  at  her 
again. 

And  at  last,  she  said,  with  her  laughter  still 
hanging  as  it  were  in  the  music  of  her  voice: 
O  King  Chand,  if  thou  art  really  he,  come 
in,  since  as  it  appears,  thou  absolutely  must, 
for  I  have  a  question  to  put  to  thee.  And 
the  King  entered,  like  a  culprit,  and  stood 
looking  at  her  like  one  ready  to  submit  to 
any  punishment  she  chose.  And  she  came 
towards  him  and  stood,  with  her  two  little  bare 
feet  exactly  together,  side  by  side,  and  her 
two  hands  clasped  behind  her  back,  and  her 
head  thrown  right  back  upon  her  shoulders  to 
look  up  at  him,  so  that  her  two  small  breasts 
jutted  out  like  round  bosses  on  the  edge  of 
the  delicious  terrace  of  her  throat.  And  she 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  75 

said:  Maharaj,  wilt  thou,  to  whom  all  women 
are  equally  contemptible,  only  tell  me,  for  I 
am  curious  to  know,  why  thou  art  so  utterly 
unable  to  go  away  from  this  arbour  of  mine? 
Is  it  these  flowers  that  attract  thee  ?  For  here 
there  is  absolutely  nothing  other  than  these 
flowers,  and  myself. 

And  as  she  spoke,  her  small  mouth,  that 
resembled  the  incarnate  fragrance  and  colour 
of  a  flower,  with  its  two  intoxicating  lips 
parted  in  the  curl  of  a  smile,  just  over  the 
leaf-like  point  of  her  small  soft  chin,  be- 
wildered him  so,  that  he  could  hardly  listen 
to  the  meaning  of  her  words.  And  he  stam- 
mered, and  hesitated,  and  said:  I  came,  be- 
cause I  had  nowhere  else  to  go.  Then  she 
said:  And  why,  then,  didst  thou  go  away  at 
all?  And  suddenly  he  said:  I  went,  in  order 
to  escape,  alas!  from  thee.  And  she  said, 
shaking  her  head  slowly  from  side  to  side: 
Nay,  not  from  me,  but  it  may  be,  from  thy- 
self. Art  thou  sure  that  it  is  not  thy  own 
self,  from  which  thou  art  vainly  endeavouring 
to  escape?  Dost  thou  know  thyself  so  well, 


76  A  Mine  of  Faults 

as  to  be  certain  what  it  is,  that  thou  art  shun- 
ning or  desiring?  Stand,  now,  there  a  little 
while,  and  examine  for  thyself  thy  condition, 
while  I  finish  my  work. 


VII 

AND  as  she  spoke,  once  more  she  went  back 
to  her  flowers.  And  she  dragged  her  great 
basket,  with  difficulty,  to  the  very  edge  of  the 
cliff,  and  knelt,  sitting  on  her  own  feet,  be- 
side it.  And  taking  out  its  flowers,  one  by 
one,  she  began  rapidly  and  skilfully  to  weave 
them  in  a  garland,  crooning  to  herself  all  the 
while  a  kind  of  song,  in  a  voice  so  low  as  to 
be  all  but  inaudible.  And  she  paid  absolutely 
no  attention  to  the  King  at  all,  wholly  ab- 
sorbed as  it  seemed  in  her  work,  and  ignoring 
his  presence  altogether.  And  every  now  and 
then,  she  took  a  flower,  and  held  it  up  before 
her,  speaking  as  it  were  to  it,  before  she  wove 
it  in  among  its  fellows;  and  now  and  then 
she  looked,  with  attention,  at  a  flower,  and  as 
if  condemning  it,  threw  it  away  into  the 
valley.  So  she  continued,  weaving,  and  mut- 
tering as  it  were  a  spell.  And  all  the  while 

77 


78  A  Mine  of  Faults 

she  swayed  to  and  fro,  a  very  little,  as  if 
keeping  time  to  her  own  unintelligible  song. 

And  so  as  she  sat  and  wove,  the  King  stood 
watching  her,  leaning  against  the  door-post, 
with  his  arms  folded,  absolutely  still.  And  he 
resembled  a  rock,  against  which  the  sea  of  her 
beauty  came  beating,  wave  after  wave,  as  if 
to  shake  it  from  its  base.  And  his  soul  went 
travelling,  by  the  means  of  his  eye,  slowly  and 
carefully  about  her,  like  a  painter.  And  like 
a  bee,  it  hovered  about  the  flower  of  her  mov- 
ing lips,  and  flew  circling  all  about  the  slowly 
moving  curve  of  her  bosom,  and  wandered  in 
and  out  about  her  slender  waist,  lost,  as  she 
sat  kneeling,  in  the  folds  of  her  heavy  limbs, 
and  then  rose  and  repeated  its  journey,  end- 
ing where  it  first  began,  and  going  round  and 
round  her,  as  if  unable  to  go  away.  And  as 
he  gazed,  he  became  as  it  were  himself  a  sea, 
and  began  as  it  were  to  surge  in  agitation, 
under  the  soft  mysterious  attraction  of  that 
moonlike  mass  of  grace  and  symmetry  and 
curve  and  colour,  floating  as  it  seemed  before 
him  in  the  air,  on  the  edge  of  that  cliff.  And 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  79 

all  the  while,  there  was  silence  in  the  arbour, 
broken  only  by  the  low  sound  of  the  singing 
of  the  King's  daughter.  And  in  that  silence, 
the  humming  of  the  bees  outside  came,  every 
now  and  then,  drifting  in  upon  the  breeze, 
that  carried  also  the  scent  of  the  blossoms  of 
the  trees,  and  floated  about  the  King,  charm- 
ing at  once  by  a  double  spell,  like  billows  of 
the  essence  of  intoxication  rolling  in  on  his' 
already  intoxicated  soul.  And  he  heard  the 
wind  below  in  the  valley  sweep  sighing  among 
its  trees,  and  now  and  then,  the  note  of  the 
wild  pigeon  calling  to  his  wife.  So  he  stood, 
wrapped  in  a  dream,  lifted  as  it  were  on  that 
cloud-loved  terrace  above  the  world,  and  bath- 
ing in  the  nectar-poison  of  the  nervous  appre- 
hension of  pure  passion  that  was  absolutely 
lost,  in  the  ecstasy  of  self-annihilation,  in  its 
object,  the  maiden  form  before  him,  singing 
and  swaying  as  she  wove. 

And  then,  at  last,  she  finished  her  work, 
and  stopped.  And  she  stood  up,  and  took 
the  garland  she  had  made,  and  laid  it  care- 
fully aside,  in  a  corner.  And  then  she  turned 


8o  A  Mine  of  Faults 

towards  him,  and  pointed  with  her  finger  to 
the  marble  seat  that  ran  like  a  long  bench 
all  along  the  arbour  wall.  And  the  King 
instantly  went  and  took  his  seat,  as  if  obey- 
ing her  commands,  upon  it,  while  she  returned 
and  remained,  half  sitting,  half  kneeling,  be- 
side her  basket  with  fragments  of  flowers  all 
around  her,  and  her  two  hands  joined  together 
on  her  lap. 


VIII 

AND  at  that  moment,  there  came  a  great 
eagle,  that  passed  in  the  air  close  beside  them, 
and  flew  away  over  the  valley.  And  seeing 
him,  she  said:  O  King  Chand,  would  thy 
friends  below  believe  him,  were  he  to  fly  down 
and  tell  them,  he  had  seen  thee  sitting  on  a 
mountain  cliff,  conversing  with  a  woman! 
Then  said  Chand  with  a  sigh:  Art  thou  in- 
deed a  woman,  and  not  rather  some  moun- 
tain witch  that  has  destroyed  me  by  a  spell? 
For  it  is  but  a  moment  since  first  I  entered 
this  enchanted  arbour,  and  already  I  am 
changed,  into  something  other  than  I  was: 
and  short  as  it  has  been,  yet  that  moment  has 
contained  within  it  as  it  were  the  power  of 
years  of  alteration.  Then  she  said:  If  this 
arbour  of  mine  has  wrought  a  change  in  thee, 
to  thy  dissatisfaction,  surely  the  fault  was  all 

6  81 


82  A  Mine  of  Faults 

thy  own,  for  coming  in,  and  thrusting  thyself 
upon  me,  as  it  were,  not  once  alone,  but  many 
times,  not  by  my  invitation,  but  of  thy  own 
accord.  Blame,  therefore,  thyself  alone,  if 
thou  hast  suffered,  by  reason  of  thy  intrusion, 
a  change  for  the  worse.  And  the  King  said 
hastily:  I  said  not  that  the  change  was  for 
the  worse,  but  only,  that  I  had  undergone  a 
change.  Then  she  said:  But  if,  then,  thy 
change  is  for  the  better,  of  what  art  thou 
complaining?  Surely  thou  art  in  that  case  a 
gainer,  by  me  and  by  my  arbour.  And  he 
said:  Nay,  neither  did  I  say  that  the  change 
was  for  the  better.  And  she  laughed,  and 
exclaimed:  What!  canst  thou  not  even  tell, 
whether  this  extraordinary  change  that  has 
befallen  thee  is  good  or  bad?  Dost  thou, 
then,  not  even  know,  which  to  prefer,  thy 
former  condition,  or  thy  present?  And  he 
said:  No.  Then  she  said:  Of  what  nature, 
then,  is  this  inexplicable  change,  that  leaves 
thee  neither  better,  nor  worse,  nor  even  yet 
the  same,  but  something  indeterminate,  of 
which  thou  canst  give  no  account  at  all? 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  83 

And  the  King  remained  silent,  with  his  eyes 
fixed  upon  her  face. 

So  then,  after  a  while,  she  said  softly: 
Come  now,  shall  I  come  to  thy  assistance,  and 
like  a  physician,  probe  for  thee  thy  soul,  and 
show  thee,  what  thou  canst  not  unriddle  for 
thyself?  Art  thou  not  angry  with  thyself, 
and  only  for  this  reason,  that  thou  art  begin- 
ning to  doubt,  whether,  after  all,  a  woman  is 
exactly  only  what  thou  hast  hitherto  determined 
to  consider  her?  Say,  is  it  not  so?  And  thy 
confidence  in  thyself  wavers,  and  thy  soul  is 
endeavouring  to  make,  if  possible,  someone 
else,  rather  than  thyself,  culpable  for  the 
wound  given  to  thy  vanity?  And  the  King 
exclaimed,  as  if  stung  by  her  words:  Did  I 
not  say,  thou  wert  a  witch?  Then  she  said: 
What  need  is  here  of  any  witchcraft?  Art 
thou  not,  by  thine  own  avowal,  Chand,  and 
who  is  there  that  has  not  heard  alike  of 
Chand's  delight  in  war,  and  his  antipathy  to 
my  sex?  And  she  paused  a  moment,  and  she 
said:  Come  now;  since  fortune  and  thy  own 
insistence  have  cast  thee  for  a  moment  in  my 


84  A  Mine  of  Faults 

way,  and  this  Guru  seems  long  in  making 
his  appearance,  shall  I  in  the  interval  do 
battle  against  thee,  for  myself  and  for  my 
sisters?  Thou  art  fond  of  battles:  art  thou 
ready  to  try  thy  fortune  in  this  field? 

And  the  King  said  in  confusion:  Nay,  for 
the  combatants  in  this  case  are  unevenly 
equipped. 

Then  she  laughed  ironically,  and  exclaimed : 
What!  Chand!  and  afraid  of  a  combat  with 
a  woman!  Shall  I  compare  thee,  then,  to  a 
general  who  has  long  ago  taken  up  a  position 
of  which  he  boasts  loudly  as  impregnable,  yet 
dare  not  expose  it  to  the  test?  And  all  at 
once  she  leaned  towards  him,  and  said,  with 
a  smile,  in  a  tone  of  irresistible  sweetness: 
Come,  bring  thy  charges  against  me,  one  by 
one,  and  I  will  do  what  I  can,  in  my  weak- 
ness,1 to  refuse  and  repel  them. 

And  as  she  spoke,  Yogeshwara  said  to  him- 
self, within  his  ambush:  Ha!  now,  let  us  see 
what  he  will  say.  And  well  did  he  object, 

1  There  is  a  play  on  the  word,  which  means  also  a 
woman. 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  85 

that  the  combat  was  uneven,  and  its  result, 
a  foregone  conclusion.  For  this  crafty  little 
daughter  of  a  King  knows  just  as  well  as  he 
does,  that  she  is  herself  the  formidable  argu- 
ment, against  which  he  has  not  only  no 
weapons  of  attack,  but  absolutely  no  defence 
at  all.  And  even  before  the  battle  has  begun, 
she  has  annihilated  all  his  force  beforehand, 
by  that  bewildering  glance  from  those  blue 
irrefutable  eyes,  which  stealing  into  his  heart, 
have  bribed  and  corrupted  it,  making  it  her 
own  ally,  and  a  traitor  to  himself. 


IX 


So,  then,  as  she  leaned  towards  him,  with 
her  head  a  little  on  one  side,  and  her  neck  a 
little  curved,  and  her  eyes  a  little  closed,  and 
her  lips  a  little  parted  in  a  caressing  smile, 
the  appeal  of  her  soft  entreating  beauty 
struck  the  King  so  hard,  that  in  his  agitation, 
his  tongue  refused  to  speak.  And  just  as  if 
it  had  heard  what  Yogeshwara  had  said,  his 
heart,  drawn  towards  her  through  his  eyes, 
deserted  him,  and  going  over  to  the  enemy, 
nestled  like  a  fugitive  bird  in  the  little  hollow 
between  the  twin  wave  of  her  breast,  saying 
as  it  were:  Here  will  I  dwell,  close  to  her 
own,  rocked  to  sleep  on  the  rise  and  fall  of 
this  gentle  sea.  And  he  looked  at  her  in 
silence,  overcome  with  his  own  emotion,  and 
at  last  he  said  with  difficulty:  Did  I  not  say 
that  I  was  changed?  For  but  a  little  while 

86 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  87 

ago,  before  I  entered  this  magic  arbour,  my 
mind  was  made  completely  up,  with  reference 
to  thy  sex,  and  I  could  have  told  thee  I  know 
not  how  many  unanswerable  reasons  for  con- 
demning it:  but  now  my  soul  is  in  confusion, 
and  as  I  look  at  thee,  I  cannot  bring  against 
it  any  arguments  at  all.  Aye!  who  could 
bring  a  charge  of  any  kind  against  such  a 
thing  as  thee? 

And  as  he  sighed,  she  said,  with  gaiety: 
Ha!  does  the  enemy  surrender,  before  even 
so  much  as  attempting  an  attack?  And  what 
can  have  been  the  strength  of  a  fortress,  which 
its  garrison  abandons  at  the  very  sign  of 
danger? 

But  the  King,  for  answer,  leaned  his  chin 
upon  his  hand,  that  rested  on  his  knee,  and 
gazed  at  her  in  silence,  for  so  long,  that  the 
smile  died  away  upon  her  lips,  and  she  dropped 
her  eyes  upon  the  ground.  And  all  at  once 
he  said:  As  I  look  at  thee,  my  weapons  of 
arguments  seem  as  it  were  to  bend  and  be- 
come blunted,  and  even  to  crumble  to  pieces 
in  my  hand:  and  I  resemble  one  in  a  dream, 


88  A  Mine  of  Faults 

fighting  in  vain  with  a  phantom  sword,  that 
turns  to  water  or  disappears  whenever  he  at- 
tempts to  strike  a  blow.  For  I  used  to  think, 
that  women  were  weak,  and  worthless  in  the 
day  of  battle,  and  so  it  is:  and  yet,  looking 
at  thee,  weak  as  thou  art,  for  I  could  crush 
thee  in  a  moment,  I  would  not  have  thee  other 
than  just  the  thing  thou  art,  and  thy  very 
weakness  seems,  I  know  not  how,  to  be  a  merit 
and  a  virtue  in  thee,  and  stronger  than  my 
strength;  and  in  thy  case,  the  very  notion  of 
a  battle  seems  utterly  abominable,  and  ludi- 
crous, and  out  of  place.  And  again,  I  used 
to  think  that  a  woman  was  a  burden,  and  as 
I  look  at  thee,  I  think  that  thou  art  a  burden 
I  would  willingly  carry,  for  as  long  as  my 
strength  would  endure.  And  women's  voices 
seemed  to  me  made  only  for  chattering  and 
scolding,  but  thine  is  a  music,  strange,  and 
soft,  and  unimaginably  beautiful,  that  plays 
upon  my  heart,  and  gladly  would  I  listen  to 
it  for  ever,  never  so  much  as  noting  the  pas- 
sage of  any  time.  And  but  yesterday  I  would 
have  told  thee,  a  woman  was  a  traitor,  but 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  89 

to-day,  looking  at  thy  soul  in  the  colour  of 
thine  eyes,  I  doubt  not  women,  but  myself. 
For  they  seem  to  me  like  two  great  black 
tanks,  filled  with  unearthly  liquid  drawn  from 
some  deep  Patala  well,  where  ocean  mixes 
with  the  azure  of  the  skies.  And  but  an  hour 
ago,  I  would  have  told  thee,  a  woman  was 
an  ugly  little  thing,  a  deformity  of  man,  in 
every  point  inferior  to  him:  but  as  I  look  at 
thee,  remorse  comes  over  me,  and  horror,  as  I 
recollect  and  shudder  at  my  crime,  and  I  see 
that  I  resemble  one  blaspheming  a  divinity 
that  ought  rather  to  be  worshipped  and  adored. 
For  I  am  but  a  clod,  and  a  coarse  and  rough 
and  rude  misshapen  lump,  compared  with  thee, 
and  every  morsel  of  thy  fairy  figure,  from  thy 
masses  of  dark  hair  to  the  sole  of  thy  little 
foot,  fills  me  with  agitation  and  feeling  that 
I  cannot  utter,  and  fierce  desire  as  it  were  to 
devour  thee,  and  thirst  to  drink  of  thy  un- 
utterable loveliness,  that  increases  as  I  watch 
thee  till  I  am  likely  to  die  of  its  intolerable 
sting.  For  I  am  burning  as  if  with  fire,  and 
I  know  not  what  to  do.  And  but  an  hour 


QO  A  Mine  of  Faults 

ago,  I  thought  my  soul  a  strong  tower,  but 
as  I  look  at  thee,  struck  by  a  stroke  of  light- 
ning in  the  form  of  thy  little  figure,  it  has 
all  tumbled  to  pieces,  and  lies  in  black 
miserable  ruin  at  thy  feet. 


X 


AND  the  King's  voice  trembled  a  little,  as 
he  spoke:  and  when  he  ended,  she  remained 
silent  a  little  while,  while  the  colour  came  and 
went  upon  her  cheek.  And  at  last,  she 
laughed  a  little  laugh,  and  she  looked,  not  at 
him,  but  away  into  the  valley,  as  she  said: 
Nay,  but  this  is  a  thing  altogether  incredible 
and  strange.  For  King  Chand,  instead  of  at- 
tacking women,  has  suddenly  become,  on  the 
contrary,  their  partisan.  And  yet  I  think, 
that  his  partisanship  is  greatly  to  be  dis- 
trusted, even  more  than  his  old  uncompromis- 
ing enmity.  For  just  as  formerly  he  utterly 
despised  and  denounced  all  women  without 
exception,  never  having  had  anything  to  do 
with  even  one:  so  now  he  suddenly  becomes 
their  champion,  on  the  evidence  of  only  a 
single  instance,  seen  only  for  a  single  instant. 

91 


92  A  Mine  of  Faults 

And  so  his  new  opinions  seem  even  more 
suspicious,  and  will  probably  be  still  more 
rapidly  evanescent,  than  his  old. 

And  Chand  said  hastily:  I  swear  to  thee, 
that  my  mind  is  made  up  on  this  matter  for 
ever,  never  again  to  waver,  even  for  an  in- 
stant. Thou  art But  she  interrupted  him, 

holding  up  at  him  her  forefinger,  with  a 
smile.  And  she  exclaimed:  O  King,  is  it 
good  policy,  in  matters  of  war,  for  a  warrior 
to  stake  his  life  on  so  momentary  a  glimpse 
of  his  enemy?  Stay,  was  that  a  footstep  that 
I  heard?  And  she  listened  for  a  moment, 
bending  round  in  an  attitude  that  almost 
broke  the  King's  heart  as  he  watched  her, 
exclaiming  within  himself:  O  that  the  King's 
Guru  were  only  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea! 

And  hearing  absolutely  nothing,  but  the 
sighing  of  the  wind,  after  a  while,  she  turned 
once  more  towards  the  King,  and  she  said, 
playfully:  Must  I,  then,  remind  thee,  that 
all  this  while,  thou  art  merely  an  Intruder, 
present  only  by  my  sufferance  and  conde- 
scension, and  that  though  it  has  come  about, 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          93 

I  know  not  how,  that  thou  art  actually  sitting 
here  talking  to  me,  in  an  arbour  where  no 
other  has  ever  come  but  me,  yet,  that  should 
the  Intruder  become  forgetful  of  his  true 
position,  he  will  be  immediately  expelled? 

And  hearing  her  speak,  Yogeshwara  in  his 
ambush  exclaimed  within  himself:  Ha!  won- 
derful beyond  imagination  is  the  craft  of 
women,  and  above  all,  of  the  one  before  me! 
For  now,  so  far  is  he  from  dreaming  that 
he  was  brought  here  expressly  for  her  pur- 
pose, that  she  has  convinced  him  that  he  is 
an  interloper,  indebted  to  her  grace,  and  she 
has  even  filled  him  with  the  nectar  of  unutter- 
able delight,  by  allowing  him  to  suppose  that 
she  permits  him  to  remain! 


XI 

BUT  in  the  meanwhile,  the  King  exclaimed 
piteously:  O  daughter  of  King  Mitra,  well 
indeed  I  know,  that  I  am  only  an  intruder: 
out  upon  me,  if  I  was  tempted  to  forget  it, 
even  for  a  moment!  And  yet  I  was  not  with- 
out excuse,  for  how  could  I  remember  any- 
thing whatever,  with  a  mind  bewildered  by  the 
colour  of  thy  great  eyes?  But  now,  I  will 
swear  to  keep  myself  within  any  bound  or 
limit  that  thou  choosest  to  impose,  so  only 
that  thou  dost  not  bid  me  go  away.  For 
then  I  could  not  answer  for  myself,  and  sorely 
indeed  should  I  be  tempted  to  disobey  thee, 
though  I  long  for  nothing  so  much,  as  to  obey 
any  orders  whatever,  so  only  that  they  are 
thine. 

And  she  said :  On  these  terms,  I  will  allow 
thee  to  remain:  though,  should  I  perceive  any 

94 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  95 

symptom  of  disobedience,  I  shall  immediately 
go  away  myself:  as  in  any  case,  I  must  do, 
as  soon  as  the  Guru  has  arrived. 

And  the  King  said,  carelessly:  There  is 
no  longer  need  for  any  Guru,  for  I  have 
altogether  changed  my  mind,  on  the  matter 
which  he  was  commissioned  to  discuss. 

And  then,  she  laughed  joyfully,  and  ex- 
claimed: Aha!  O  King,  much  I  fear,  that 
thou,  who  but  an  hour  ago,  wast  ready  to 
bring  charges  of  lightness  and  frivolity  against 
every  member  of  my  sex,  art  thyself  more 
changeful  and  inconstant  than  any  woman  of 
us  all.  For  here  art  thou,  changing  thy  mind 
once  more,  no  longer  about  women  and  their 
crimes,  but  even  about  matters  of  state-policy, 
and  all  in  but  a  moment.  Art  thou  not 
ashamed  of  thyself,  and  in  presence  of  a 
woman?  And  the  King  said:  O  thou  beauti- 
ful and  tormenting  being,  I  am  not  in  the 
least  ashamed:  for  it  is  all  thy  fault,  and  thy 
doing,  and  thou  art  the  cause  of  all.  And 
now  I  wish  from  the  very  bottom  of  my  heart, 
that  thou  wert  thyself  the  Guru.  For  I  wish 


96  A  Mine  of  Faults 

to  transact  no  business  of  any  kind,  except 
with  thee:  and  moreover,  the  concern  is  far 
less,  in  this  matter,  with  the  Guru  than  with 
thee. 

And  she  thought  for  a  moment,  and  she 
said:  And  what  if  I  were  actually  the  Guru? 
What  then?  Come,  what  can  be  so  easy  as 
to  gratify  thy  wish?  Shall  we,  like  children, 
make  believe?  Suppose  me,  if  thou  canst,  to 
be  the  Guru,  and  tell  me,  what  is  thy  business 
of  State. 

And  she  changed,  all  at  once,  her  position, 
and  sat,  as  though  upon  the  carpet  of  a 
Durbar,  cross-legged,  assuming  an  air  of  dig- 
nity, with  mock  solemnity,  as  if  preparing  to 
listen  with  profound  attention  to  what  he  was 
about  to  say.  And  as  he  watched  her,  the 
heart  of  Yogeshwara  in  his  ambush  almost 
burst  within  him,  and  he  exclaimed  within 
himself:  Ha!  Surely  I  am  a  baby,  in  mat- 
ters of  diplomacy,  compared  with  this  extraor- 
dinary woman!  For  she  has  reached,  at  a 
single  bound,  the  very  object  of  her  meeting, 
and  has  actually  presented  herself  to  him,  in 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  97 

her  true  capacity,  spreading  open,  as  it  were, 
the  very  truth  naked  before  his  eyes,  with- 
out his  so  much  as  suspecting  anything  at 
all! 


XII 

Bur  in  the  meanwhile,  the  King  gazed  at 
her,  intoxicated  with  admiration  and  delight. 
And  he  murmured  to  himself :  Where  has  the 
woman  gone,  of  whom,  at  first,  I  think,  I  was 
actually  afraid?  For  now  she  has  turned,  so 
to  speak,  into  a  child,  playing  at  a  game. 
And  all  at  once,  he  began  to  tremble.  For 
like  a  flash  of  lightning,  the  dark  ocean  of 
love-rapture  in  which  he  was  plunged  sud- 
denly became  illuminated  with  a  ray  of  sun- 
light in  the  form  of  hope,  so  that  he  said  to 
himself:  Am  I  mistaken,  or  is  she  a  little 
kinder  than  she  was?  And  all  at  once,  a 
thought  came  into  his  heart.  And  he  leaned 
towards  her,  and  said :  Dear  little  Guru,  thou 
art  new  to  state-affairs,  of  which  the  first 
axiom  is  this,  that  the  discussion  of  matters 

of  importance  demands  above  all  things  ab- 

98 


A  Diplomatic  Interview  99 

solute  secrecy,  and  freedom  from  interruption. 
Is  there  no  attendant  of  thine  somewhere 
within  call,  whom  we  might  summon,  and  bid 
him  tell  the  true  Guru,  that  he  is  not  required, 
until  our  deliberation  is  concluded? 

And  hearing  him  speak,  the  King's  daughter 
broke  into  a  peal  of  laughter.  And  suddenly 
abandoning  all  her  dignity,  she  began  to  clap 
her  hands  in  delight,  looking  at  him  joyously, 
as  if  she  were  really  nothing  but  a  child.  And 
she  exclaimed:  Ah!  thou  art  crafty,  and  cun- 
ning indeed.  Ah!  that  would  indeed  be  a 
stroke  of  policy,  to  oust  the  true  Guru  in 
favour  of  the  sham.  But,  O  King  Chand,  I 
fear  that  it  cannot  be.  Thou  must  resign  thy- 
self to  making  the  best  of  the  time  still  at 
thy  disposal,  afforded  thee  by  his  delay. 
Therefore  lay  thy  matter  very  quickly  before 
me,  for  due  consideration. 

And  the  King  said:  O  most  reverend 
Guru,  I  came  here  to  deliberate  on  certain 
preliminary  difficulties,  in  the  matter  of  thy 
father's  submission  to  myself.  For  he  is,  of 
all  the  kings,  the  only  one  that  has  not  yet 


ioo  A  Mine  of  Faults 

submitted.  Then  she  said:  But  what  if  he 
should  refuse?  Then  said  Chand:  He  will 
not  refuse,  for  if  he  did,  I  should  compel  him, 
by  force.  And  he  will  never  bring  the  matter 
to  that  test,  for  well  he  knows,  that  my 
strength  is  a  hundred  times  greater  than  his 
own.  Aye!  had  he  dreamed  of  resistance,  I 
should  have  been  delighted:  and  we  should 
long  ago  have  swept  him  away,  as  an  angry 
river  does  a  blade  of  straw. 

And  she  looked  furtively  at  him  as  he  spoke, 
saying  to  herself:  Now  he  is  himself,  no 
longer  like  a  bashful  lover,  but  resembling 
that  great  copper-coloured  eagle  that  recently 
swept  by  us  as  it  searched  for  prey.  And  as 
he  thinks  of  a  battle,  he  has  for  the  moment 
forgotten  all  about  me,  proud,  and  confident 
of  his  own  strength.  And  then,  as  the  King 
looked  at  her,  she  placed  her  ringer  on  the 
very  point  of  her  chin,  and  said:  O  King, 
this  is  a  matter  requiring  for  its  settlement 
age,  and  experience,  and  policy  of  the  very 
deepest  kind.  And  therefore  the  King  my 
master  entrusted  it  to  me,  as  being,  in  all  his 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          101 

dominions,  the  oldest  and  most  crafty  of  his 
advisers. 

And  she  looked  at  the  King  with  a  smile, 
while  Yogeshwara  in  his  ambush  laughed  to 
himself  for  joy:  saying  to  himself:  She  is 
utterly  deceiving  him,  by  telling  him  the  very 
truth.  But  the  King  said:  O  wrinkled, 
grey-haired  Guru,  sure  I  am,  that  the  King 
thy  master  could  not  possibly  have  entrusted 
the  matter  to  a  more  irresistible  negotiator 
than  thyself,  whose  years  are  a  guarantee  for 
thy  incomparable  dexterity.  Then  she  said, 
looking  at  him  with  large  eyes  full  of  grave 
reproof:  Such  compliments  are,  we  know, 
the  indispensable  preliminary  in  all  negotia- 
tions, meaning,  as  their  employers  know  well, 
absolutely  nothing  at  all.  And  the  King 
said:  Dear  Guru,  thou  art  altogether  mis- 
taken. For  I  do  not  speak  by  proxy,  but 
am  my  own  ambassador,  and  therefore  em- 
power myself  to  say  exactly  what  I  mean,  as 
in  this  instance.  Then  she  said :  Let  us  pass 
over  all  preliminaries,  and  come  to  the  busi- 
ness in  hand.  Can  we  not  offer  inducements 


102  A  Mine  of  Faults 

to  the  enemy,  whom  we  are  not  strong  enough 
to  meet  in  the  field,  to  come  to  terms?  And 
the  King  said  eagerly:  Aye!  that  you  can. 
For  often,  on  the  very  eve  of  battle,  timely 
alliances  and  bribes  have  warded  off  disaster; 
and  for  this  very  purpose  it  was,  that,  as  I 
think,  kings'  daughters  were  invented  by  the 
Creator.  For  many  times,  the  gift  of  a 
daughter  has  turned  an  enemy  into  a  friend. 
Then  she  said:  Ah!  but  in  this  case,  such  an 
expedient  is  altogether  futile,  and  out  of  the 
question.  For  King  Chand  is  known  to  be 
an  enemy  of  women,  and  kings'  daughters 
are,  after  all,  only  women,  and  therefore  less 
than  nothing,  and  of  no  value  in  his  eyes. 
And  the  King  said  hastily:  Sweet  Guru,  thy 
spies  have  misinformed  thee,  and  led  thee 
astray.  For  I  can  positively  assure  thee  that 
circumstances  of  very  recent  occurrence  have 
so  altered  the  complexion  of  King  Chand's 
opinions,  that  the  offer  of  a  daughter  by  King 
Mitra  would  certainly  render  all  submission 
entirely  superfluous.  Go  back  and  tell  thy 
master,  that  King  Chand  would  infinitely 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          103 

prefer   his    daughter    to    his    submission,    or 
anything  whatever  in  the  world. 

And  she  looked  at  him,  gravely  shaking  at 
him  her  pretty  head,  and  she  said,  with  in- 
decision in  her  voice:  O  Intruder,  remember! 
and  beware!  It  is  time  now,  to  bring  this 
game  to  a  conclusion.  For  what  is  it,  after 
all,  but  child's-play?  And  it  is  even  more 
than  time  for  the  true  Guru  to  appear.  And 
the  King  exclaimed:  Nay,  dearest  Guru,  not 
so.  For  I  swear  to  thee,  that  though  the 
game  might  be  a  game,  my  terms  are  no  jest. 
And  she  said :  Then,  as  Guru,  I  reply :  Who 
shall  convince  King  Mitra,  and  still  more,  his 
daughter,  that  King  Chand  has  changed  his 
mind?  For  in  love,  as  in  war,  promises  may 
be  deception,  and  oaths  but  a  snare. 


XIII 

AND  then,  as  Chand  suddenly  rose  to  his 
feet,  and  stood  up,  she  also  started  up,  ex- 
claiming: O  King,  stand  still  now,  for  a 
little  while,  and  listen  to  me.  And  as  she 
stood,  with  each  hand  firmly  clenched  beside 
her,  and  her  head  thrown  back  upon  her 
shoulders,  she  resembled  a  picture  of  deter- 
mination. And  she  turned  just  a  little  paler, 
and  her  eyes  grew  just  a  little  darker,  as  she 
fixed  her  glance  upon  the  King.  And  Yogesh- 
wara,  as  he  watched  her  from  his  ambush,  said 
with  anxiety  to  himself:  What  in  the  world 
is  she  going  to  do  now?  For  she  has  com- 
pletely gained  her  end,  and  brought  the  nego- 
tiation to  a  successful  issue;  and  now  all  she 
has  to  do  is,  to  break  off  the  interview  and 

go  away :  and  everything  will  settle  of  its  own 

104 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          105 

accord  for  our  advantage.  Can  it  be,  that 
having  hitherto  played  her  part  with  the  most 
consummate  skill,  she  is  just  about  to  spoil 
all  by  some  false  step,  or,  that  as  her  sex  gave 
her  victory,  so  now  it  is  going  to  tempt  her 
into  losing  all  gained,  by  some  unhappy 
blunder,  springing  from  feminine  caprice? 
Or  does  she,  for  all  her  cleverness,  not  yet 
understand,  that  the  essence  of  all  wisdom 
lies  in  knowing  where  to  stop? 

So  then,  as  Chand  watched  her,  also  with 
anxiety,  all  unaware  of  what  was  passing  in 
her  mind,  she  said:  O  King  Chand,  it  may 
very  well  be,  that  should  you  make  your  pro- 
posal to  the  King  my  father,  he  will  accept 
it,  to  secure  his  own  advantage.  For  many 
times  a  daughter  has  been  sacrificed,  to  save 
a  State;  tossed  like  a  ball  backwards  and  for- 
wards from  hand  to  hand,  and  like  a  bag  of 
money,  changing  owners  in  the  market,  with 
no  voice  in  the  matter  of  its  own.  But  now 
there  is  another  person  to  be  considered.  For 
since  the  beginning,  it  has  been  the  privi- 
lege of  all  kings'  daughters  to  choose  their 


io6  A  Mine  of  Faults 

husbands  for  themselves.1  And  though  my 
father  may  be  willing,  and  even  all  too  will- 
ing, to  close  with  your  offer,  and  hand  me 
over  like  a  cow  to  the  best  bidder,  perhaps 
I  may  not  be  equally  pleased  with  the  bargain 
myself.  And  what  guarantee  canst  thou  give 
me,  that  I  shall  not  be  a  loser  in  the  matter, 
and  a  victim,  and  a  dupe? 

And  as  she  spoke,  she  fixed  her  eyes  sternly 
on  the  King,  as  though  to  search  him,  with 
penetrating  interrogation  in  their  glance. 
And  the  King  said  sorrowfully:  Alas!  dear 
Guru,  what  can  I  say  to  thee  to  convince  thee 
of  my  sincerity?  And  she  said,  with  energy: 
Nay,  in  this  matter,  I  am  no  Guru,  but  like 
thee,  my  own  ambassador.  And  what  hast 
thou  to  say,  then,  for  thyself?  Thou  art  a 
known  enemy  of  women.  And  hast  thou, 
then,  any  ground  for  thy  dislike?  Hast  thou 
bought  thy  bad  wisdom  in  the  market  of  ex- 
perience, and  drawn  thy  bad  opinion  of  my 
sex  from  association  with  evil  specimens  of 

1  This  is  the  swayamwara,  or  self-choice  of  a  bride- 
groom, everywhere  exemplified  in  old  Hindoo  tales. 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          107 

womankind?  And  as  she  spoke,  she  shot  at 
him  a  glance  that  resembled  a  flash  of  dark 
lightning  in  the  form  of  suspicion,  and  en- 
tered his  soul  like  a  sword.  And  the  King 
said  earnestly:  May  I  never  see  thee  again, 
if  I  have  any  such  experience  at  all:  for  I 
do  assure  thee,  that  I  have  hardly  ever  seen, 
much  less  spoken  to,  any  woman  but  thyself. 
And  as  he  stood,  with  his  hand  stretched 
towards  her,  and  timidity  mixed  with  entreaty 
in  his  eyes,  she  plunged  into  them  her  own, 
as  if  endeavouring  to  read  to  the  very  bottom 
of  his  heart.  And  all  at  once,  she  sighed  a 
little  sigh,  as  if  with  unutterable  relief.  And 
she  sank  back,  changing  suddenly  all  over  as 
it  were  from  the  hardest  stone  into  a  substance 
softer  than  the  foam  of  the  sea.  And  her 
clenched  hands  relaxed,  opening  like  flowers, 
and  the  cloud  vanished  from  her  face,  and 
there  came  into  her  eyes  a  smile  that  ran  as 
it  were  like  sunshine  over  her  whole  body. 
And  she  exclaimed:  Why,  then,  thou  art  al- 
together fraudulent.  And  pray,  by  what  au- 
thority didst  thou  dare  to  assume,  like  a  severe 


io8  A  Mine  of  Faults 

judge,  the  right  of  condemning  all  women  in 
the  lump,  never  having  had  anything  to  do 
with  them?  And  the  King  said:  I  learned 
my  lesson  from  my  father,  and  with  him  was 
my  whole  life  passed,  in  camps,  and  battle- 
fields, and  the  chase  of  wild  beasts.  Then  she 
said:  Thou  hast  indeed  something  in  thee  of 
the  wild  animals  amongst  which  thou  hast 
lived,  and  art  in  sore  need  of  training  in 
gentler  arts.  And  could  I  but  consider  thee 
a  true  diamond,  I  have  half  a  mind  to  be  thy 
polisher,  myself. 

And  she  looked  at  the  King  with  eyes,  in 
which  the  sweetness  was  within  a  very  little 
of  affection.  And  instantly,  fire  leaped  from 
the  King's  heart,  and  ran  like  a  flame  all 
through  him.  And  he  exclaimed:  Ah!  with 
thee  for  my  teacher,  I  would  very  quickly  learn 
anything  whatever.  Then  she  said :  Go  back, 
O  Intruder,  to  thy  seat:  for  it  is  not  good 
for  the  pupil  to  be  in  too  great  a  proximity 
to  his  Guru : 1  and  I  will  give  thee  thy  first 
lesson. 

1  This  is  substantially  a  quotation  from  Manu :  only  it 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          109 

And  as  the  King  returned  joyously  to  his 
seat,  she  took  her  flower  basket,  and  turning 
it  over,  emptied  all  its  remaining  flowers  upon 
the  floor.  And  choosing  one  from  among 
them,  she  placed  the  basket,  upside  down,  a 
little  way  from  the  King,  and  seated  herself 
upon  it,  with  the  flower  in  her  hand.  And 
she  said:  Now  the  judge  is  on  the  seat  of 
judgment,  to  try  thee.  And  yonder  is  my 
garland,  and  now  it  is  to  be  determined, 
whether  thou  art  worthy  to  have  it  placed 
about  thy  neck,1  or  not. 

And  Yogeshwara  in  his  ambush  said  softly 
to  himself:  Now  she  is  playing  with  him, 
after  the  manner  of  her  sex.  And  who  knows, 
whether  it  has  not  come  about,  that  the  biter 
has  been  bit,  and  the  snarer  taken  in  the  snare, 
and  she  has  partly  fallen  in  love  with  him 
herself:  as  well  she  might.  For  love  is  dan- 


is  not  the  Guru,  but  the  Guru's  wife,  whom  the  pupil  is 
there  forbidden  to  approach.  The  princess  plays  upon  the 
sex. 

1  In  the  swayamwara  ceremony,  the  mark  of  selection 
was  the  placing  of  a  garland  around  the  successful  wooer's 
neck,  by  the  hands  of  the  bride  herself. 


no  A  Mine  of  Faults 

gerous,  and  double-edged,  and  catching,  like 
a  fever,  and  it  will  be  long  before  she  sees 
another,  better  fitted  than  this  young  lion's 
cub,  to  touch  her  heart.  And  she  looks  at  him 
now,  not  as  she  did  before,  but  as  if  she  were 
beginning  to  wish  to  coax  him,  and  to  tease 
him,  and  to  play  the  tyrant  over  him,  as  much 
as  he  wishes  it  himself.  For  the  longing  that 
stretches,  as  it  were,  imploring  hands  towards 
her,  out  of  his  intoxicated  eyes,  resembles  a 
whirlpool,  out  of  which  she  may  not  find  it 
easy,  and  perhaps  does  not  even  desire,  to 
escape. 


XIV 

So  she  sat  awhile,  looking  at  him  with  mis- 
chief in  her  laughing  eyes,  at  which  he  gazed 
with  senses  that  began  to  leave  him  out  of 
joy.  And  all  at  once,  she  held  up  before  him 
the  lily  in  her  hand.  And  she  said:  Dost 
thou  recognise  this  flower?  And  the  King 
looked  at  it  carefully,  bending  forward  half 
to  see  it,  half  in  order  to  get  closer  to  the 
hand  that  held  it  up.  And  he  said:  No:  it 
is  a  flower  of  a  kind  very  singular  indeed,  and 
of  strange  beauty,  that  I  have  never  seen  be- 
fore. Then  she  said :  It  is  my  flower,  chosen 
by  me,  and  preferred  to  all  the  others,  to  be 
mine,  and  like  myself,  a  native  of  the  hills. 
And  if  ever,  in  any  former  birth,  I  was  my- 
self a  flower,  beyond  a  doubt,  I  was  this:  for 
as  I  see  it,  when  I  wander  in  the  forest,  I 
am  drawn  as  it  were  towards  it,  whether  I 
will  or  no,  and  it  speaks  to  me,  in  its  Ian- 


H2  A  Mine  of  Faults 

guage,  of  a  long  forgotten  state  when  we  were 
one.  And  now,  canst  thou  employ  it  in  battle 
as  a  sword?  And  yet,  for  all  that,  is  it  good 
for  nothing?  Then  he  said:  O  Guru,  I  see 
thy  meaning  and  thy  malice.  It  would  in- 
deed be  a  folly  and  a  sin,  to  employ  the 
sweet  flower  as  a  sword.  And  were  it  mine, 
I  would  place  it  in  a  shrine,  and  worship  it 
as  it  deserves,  since  it  exactly  resembles  the 
hood  of  the  snake  that  overshadows  Mahesh- 
wara,  save  only  that  it  is  white.1  And  now, 
since  it  is  thy  flower,  it  shall  also  be  mine. 
Then  she  said :  But  as  yet  it  is  not  thine.  And 
whether  I  give  it  thee,  or  not,  depends  on 
my  decision  in  thy  case.  And  I  incline  to 
think,  not.  For  it  is  but  an  hour,  since  thou 
wert  ready  to  condemn  all  flowers  whatever 
as  things  of  naught,  only  because  the  poor 

1  A  species  of  Arisaema,  which  we  call  "  cobra-lily,"  and 
the  natives,  snake-root.  Though  there  are  many  flowers 
intrinsically  more  beautiful,  I  do  not  know  one  more 
quaintly  original,  than  this:  shooting  up,  in  dark  wet 
woods,  by  roots  of  trees,  old  walls,  or  among  dead  leaves, 
pure  and  white  and  lonely  and  strangely  suggestive  of 
some  wild  individuality,  silently  symbolical  of  old  sweet 
stories  of  Naiads  and  Dryads  and  Russian  Rusalkas  and 
Heine  Loreleis. 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          113 

flowers  were  not  swords.  And  the  King  said: 
Dear  Guru,  be  not  hasty  and  unjust.  Could 
he  be  blamed  for  not  appreciating  flowers 
that  had  never  seen  one  in  his  life?  Then 
she  said:  And  what,  then,  had  he  seen  one, 
and  only  one?  Much  I  fear,  lest,  once  hav- 
ing experienced  the  sweetness  of  one  flower, 
he  might  be  tempted  to  run  riot  among  them 
all. 

And  the  King  said,  with  emphasis:  Guru, 
thy  fear  is  vain,  and  void  of  substance,  and 
like  my  own  antipathy  before. 

And  she  stooped,  and  picked  up  at  random 
another  flower  from  the  floor.  And  she  said: 
See!  is  not  this  one  just  as  beautiful  and 
tempting  as  the  first?  But  the  King  put  up 
his  hands  before  his  eyes,  exclaiming:  I  will 
not  even  look  at  it  at  all.  Then  she  said, 
softly:  Who  will  believe  the  bee,  that  swore 
a  deadly  feud  against  all  flowers,  now  swear- 
ing to  confine  himself  to  one?  Are  not  all 
bees  naturally  rovers,  and  hard  to  satiate, 
such  is  their  appetite  for  variety?  And  he 
said:  I  know  nothing  of  the  bees,  but  this 


ii4  A  Mine  of  Faults 

I  know,  that  for  myself,  I  want  no  flower 
but  one.  Then  she  said:  And  for  how  long? 
And  he  said:  For  a  yuga.  And  she  ex- 
claimed: What!  only  a  single  yuga?1  And 
he  said:  A  kalpa.  And  she  said:  Thy  de- 
sire for  the  flower  has  then,  after  all,  a  limit,  if 
a  long  one?  And  the  King  said:  Multiply 
yuga  by  yuga,  and  kalpa  by  kalpa,  it  is  the 
same. 

And  she  said:  And  what,  during  all  these 
yugas  and  kalpas,  wouldst  thou  be  doing  with 
thy  flower?  And  he  said:  Nay,  I  will  show 
thee,  then,  when  it  is  mine.  Of  what  use  are 
the  words  of  one  unworthy  of  belief? 

And  she  waited  for  a  while,  with  a  hesitation 
compounded  half  of  indecision,  half  of  the  wish 
to  keep  him  in  suspense.  And  then  all  at 
once  she  laughed,  and  blushed,  and  threw  the 
flower  towards  him,  saying :  Come,  I  will  try 
thee,  for  a  single  yuga.  And  if,  at  its  end, 
my  flower  is  still  with  thee,  who  knows  what 
I  may  give  thee  in  the  next? 

1  (Pronounce  yuga,  and  kalpa  as  monosyllables,  to  rhyme 
with  fugue  and  pulp.)  A  yuga  is,  as  we  should  say,  a 
geological  Age:  a  kalpa,  a  whole  series  of  such  ages. 


XV 

AND  then,  as  the  King  seized  the  flower  with 
avidity,  and  put  it  to  his  lips,  looking  at  her 
with  longing  eyes,  she  looked  back  at  him  for 
a  single  instant  with  the  shadow  of  a  smile 
trembling  on  the  very  corner  of  her  lips:  and 
then  all  at  once,  it  vanished,  and  she  dropped 
her  eyes,  and  just  a  very  little  colour  came 
into  her  cheek.  And  so,  for  a  while,  they 
remained  silent;  she  with  her  eyes  fixed  upon 
the  ground,  and  he  with  his  own  fastened 
upon  her  face.  And  there  was  dead  silence 
in  that  arbour,  just  as  if  nobody  was  there. 
Only  the  humming  of  the  bees  seemed  as  it 
were  to  murmur  to  them,  like  the  echo  of  their 
own  thoughts,  which  neither  dared  to  speak. 
And  the  wind  sighed  in  the  valley,  and  died 
away,  leaving  behind  it  a  silence  greater  than 
before,  in  which  they  heard  nothing  but  the 
beating  of  their  own  hearts. 

"5 


n6  A  Mine  of  Faults 

And  all  at  once,  she  rose  abruptly  from  her 
basket,  as  if  half-frightened  at  the  very 
silence,  and  moved  away,  a  little  way,  towards 
the  edge  of  the  abyss.  And  at  that  moment, 
the  King  suddenly  struck  his  hand  upon  his 
knee.  And  he  exclaimed,  Ha!  so  vehemently, 
that  she  started,  and  turned  and  stood,  look- 
ing at  him,  in  alarm.  And  she  said,  in  a  voice 
that  faltered  with  timidity:  What  is  the 
matter?  And  the  King  exclaimed:  Alas! 
dearest  Guru,  I  have  frightened  thee.  And 
yet  I  think,  that  I  shall  frighten  thee  again, 
as  often  as  I  can,  so  much  does  thy  fear  be- 
come thee.  Then  she  said:  But  what  caused 
thee  to  exclaim?  And  he  said:  I  have  made 
a  discovery.  Then  she  said,  with  a  smile: 
And  what  hast  thou  discovered?  And  the 
King  said:  Alas!  now  all  thy  beautiful 
timidity  has  flown  away.  And  with  reason: 
for  thou  hast  little  indeed  to  fear,  so  long  as  I 
am  near  thee.  Aye!  woe  to  whatever  threatens 
thee,  while  I  am  by  thy  side!  But  as  to  my 
discovery,  it  is,  that  thou  art  an  impostor  and 
a  cheat. 

And  she  looked  at  him,  fixedly,  turning  just 


A  Diplomatic  Interview         117 

a  little  paler:  and  she  said:  I  do  not  under- 
stand. Then  he  said:  Here  all  this  while,  I 
have  been  before  thee  like  a  culprit,  rated  by 
thee  for  my  opinion  of  thy  sex:  and  reduced 
to  utter  shame  before  thee,  falsely  represent- 
ing thyself  to  be  a  woman.  And  as  I  looked 
at  thee,  all  at  once,  like  a  sudden  flash  of 
lightning,  the  truth  appeared:  and  now  I 
know  thee  to  be  a  rogue,  and  a  cheat,  and 
not  a  woman  after  all.  And  now  I  am  re- 
deemed, in  my  own  eyes,  and  feel  no  longer 
any  shame  at  being  drawn  against  my  will 
to  one  who  has  absolutely  no  claim  to  be 
classed  among  the  sex. 

And  she  laughed,  as  if  with  relief;  and  she 
said:  What,  then,  am  I,  if  not  a  woman? 
And  the  King  said:  How  can  I  tell?  But 
doubtless  thou  art  some  mountain  incarnation 
of  loveliness  and  fascination,  distinct  and  al- 
together different  from  the  race  of  men  and 
women,  and  peculiar  to  thyself.  And  now  I 
have  a  great  mind  to  punish  thee  for  thy 
villainy,  in  falsely  playing  the  woman  for  my 
confusion. 

And  she  laughed  again,  softly,  and  said: 


n8  A  Mine  of  Faults 

What  wilt  thou  do  to  me,  to  punish  me,  for 
I  am  at  thy  mercy?  And  the  King  said: 
Thou  speakest  truly:  for  see!  I  could  crush 
thee  to  pieces  with  this  hand,  or  throw  thee 
from  the  cliff.  And  yet,  that  were  indeed  a 
sin,  and  I  should  resemble  one  placing  his  heel 
upon  a  flower.  Nay,  but  I  will  presently  go 
to  thy  father,  and  bid  him  cast  thee  into 
prison,  for  luring  to  destruction  strangers  that 
come  by  invitation  to  his  capital,  against  his 
own  safe-conduct.  And  now  I  am  sorely 
tempted  to  look  upon  thee  as  a  Yakshi,  or 
a  Rakshasi,  devouring  human  bodies,  and 
doubtless,  Yogeshwara  is  thy  agent,  who 
draws  travellers  to  thy  den,  and  I  myself  thy 
victim,  only  the  last  of  many,  whose  bones  it 
may  be  lie  scattered  at  the  foot  of  yonder  cliff. 
And  Yogeshwara  said,  within  his  ambush: 
Now,  without  knowing  it,  he  is  getting  very 
dangerously  close  to  the  truth,  and  his  words, 
undesignedly,  will  touch  her  to  the  quick. 


XVI 

AND  she  was  silent  for  a  while,  and  then 
she  said  with  a  sigh:  What!  am  I  then  to 
thee  but  a  Rakshasi,  and  only  an  impostor? 
And  the  King  said:  Dear  Guru,  every  Rak- 
shasi can  assume  at  will  a  form  of  more  than 
mortal  beauty,  and  this  very  beauty  of  thine 
makes  thee  suspicious  in  my  eyes,  for  nothing 
like  it  was  ever  seen.  And  yet  I  would  rather 
be  devoured  by  thee  than  die  in  any  other 
way,  or  fall,  as  is  probable,  in  battle. 

And  she  looked  at  him  a  moment,  and  then 
she  said:  Thou  art  very  young,  and  as  I 
think,  hardly  older  than  myself :  and  hast  thou, 
then,  been  present  in  many  battles?  And  he 
said:  In  some.  Then  she  said:  How  is  it, 
then,  that  thou  art  still  alive?  And  the  King 
laughed,  and  said:  Dearest  little  Guru,  there 

would  be  no  battles,  if  in  every  battle  all  were 

119 


120  A  Mine  of  Faults 

killed.  And  she  said:  But  thy  own  father 
was  killed  in  battle,  and  one  day,  it  may  be 
thy  case  also.  And  Chand  said:  Who  knows? 
For  some  fall,  on  their  very  first  field:  and 
others  spend  their  whole  lives  on  battle-fields, 
and  Death  flies  from  them  continually,  as  if 
he  was  afraid  of  them  himself.  Or,  it  may 
be,  he  chooses  whom  he  pleases.  Then  she 
said:  And  art  thou,  then,  not  afraid,  lest  he 
should  choose  thee? 

And  Chand  looked  at  her,  for  a  while,  in 
silence.  And  all  at  once  he  said:  Who  can 
escape  what  is  written  on  his  forehead?  And 
if  a  brave  man  fall  in  battle,  what  harm  ?  For 
he  must  die  somehow,  and  in  that  case,  at  any 
rate,  the  Apsaras  appointed  for  him  waits,  to 
carry  off  his  soul.  But  I  have  found  my 
Apsaras,  while  I  am  alive.  Ha!  and  now 
that  I  bethink  me,  surely  that  is  what 
thou  art.  Aye!  doubtless  I  am  dead,  hav- 
ing died  somehow  or  other,  unawares,  and 
thou  art  the  very  Apsaras  that  has  come  to 
fetch  away  my  soul.  And  who  knows  but 
that  this  arbour  of  thine  is  a  very  bit  of 


A  Diplomatic  Interview         121 

heaven,  lifted  as  it  is  above  the  lower  world, 
among  the  clouds? 

And  all  at  once,  she  exclaimed,  with  em- 
phasis: Never  shall  the  Apsarases  take  thee. 
Thou  shalt  never  fight  on  any  battle-field 
again.  And  then  again,  she  stopped  short, 
while  the  colour  rushed  over  her  face  like 
dawn.  And  instantly,  the  King  started  to  his 
feet,  exclaiming  with  rapture:  Ah!  Guru  of 
my  heart!  What!  would  my  death  displease 
thee?  And  she  said,  with  confusion:  Nay, 
I  did  but  fear  for  thy  life,  on  some  future 
day.  But  look!  where  my  flower  lies,  that  I 
gave  thee,  to  treasure  for  a  yuga.  Already 
dost  thou  neglect  it?  For  in  his  emotion,  the 
King  had  thrown  it  to  the  ground.  And  she 
said  again:  See!  in  the  confusion  caused  by 
matters  of  more  moment,  how  the  poor  flower 
falls  neglected  to  the  ground! 


XVII 

AND  the  King  picked  the  flower  up,  and 
laid  it  carefully  upon  the  seat.  And  he  said: 
Lie  thou  there,  my  flower,  securely:  I  will  see 
to  it,  that  thou  dost  never  fall  to  the  ground 
again.  And  then,  he  turned  to  the  King's 
daughter,  and  made  a  step  towards  her,  with 
such  determination,  that  she  drew  back  in 
alarm.  And  she  faltered,  half  in  play  and 
half  in  fear:  Beware!  O  Intruder:  thou  art 
transgressing  the  conditions.  But  the  King 
swept  away  her  expostulation  with  a  wave  of 
his  hand.  And  he  exclaimed :  Nay,  I  care  not 
any  longer  whether  I  am  here  by  right  or 
wrong:  it  is  enough  that  I  am  here,  and  thou 
art  there.  And  well  didst  thou  ask  me, 
whether  I  feared  to  fall  in  battle  like  my 
father.  For  never  hitherto  had  I  fear  of  any 
kind,  but  at  thy  very  question,  I  suddenly 

122 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          123 

understood  that  I  was  changed.  Did  I  not 
say,  thou  wert  a  witch,  transforming  me  into 
another  man  by  spells?  For  now  I  know  I 
am  a  coward,  and  afraid  to  die,  since  should 
I  die,  I  should  never  see  thee  any  more.  And 
all  at  once  he  stooped,  till  his  left  hand  rested 
on  her  basket,  to  look  up  into  her  face,  which 
was  turned  towards  the  ground.  And  he  said 
with  a  voice  that  shook  with  emotion:  Dear 
Guru,  come,  wilt  thou  not  choose  me,  and 
throw  round  my  neck  the  garland  of  thy 
choice  ?  And  I  will  be  thy  slave,  and  do  every- 
thing according  to  thy  bidding,  and  abandon, 
if  thou  wilt,  my  battles  and  my  kingdom  and 
my  life,  and  every  other  thing,  counting  the 
world  as  grass,  only  to  sit  beside  thee  and 
listen  to  thy  voice,  and  watch  thee,  and  thy 
eyes  and  thy  hands  and  thy  hair  and  what- 
ever else  is  thine  and  part  of  thee.  Aye!  and 
what  does  it  matter,  if  formerly  I  thought 
lightly  of  thy  sex?  I  was  but  a  fool,  that 
did  not  know,  and  now  I  will  make  up  to 
thee  for  all,  and  serve  thee,  and  follow  thee 
about,  and  obey  thee  like  a  dog.  Aye!  I 


124  A  Mine  of  Faults 

have  cast  my  whole  life  into  the  fire,  and 
thrown  it  behind  me  like  a  dream,  out  of  which 
I  have  awoken,  as  thou  hast  waked  me,  with 
a  start:  for  now  I  see  that  it  was  horrible, 
and  black,  and  cold  and  vain  and  worthless; 
for  what  is  any  life  in  which  thou  art  not 
but  a  death,  and  worse  than  any  death,  to  have 
seen  thee,  and  to  be  without  thee,  even  for 
an  hour.  Aye!  now  I  know,  though  then  I 
knew  it  not,  that  the  very  first  moment  I  set 
eyes  on  thee,  I  ceased  to  be  myself,  for  it  is 
thou  that  art  myself,  and  my  soul,  and  with- 
out thee  I  am  nothing  but  a  corpse.  Only 
tell  me  what  there  is  of  me  which  thou  dost 
not  like,  and  I  will  change  it,  if  only  thou 
wilt  help  me :  for  thou  art  powerful  to  change. 
For  I  am  very  rude,  and  need  teaching,  and 
thou  shalt  teach  me  anything  thou  wilt.  And 
if  there  is  anything  thou  longest  for,  I  will 
search  the  world  to  bring  it  to  thy  feet,  and 
fetch  for  thee  no  matter  what  from  the  very 
bottom  of  the  sea.  Only  let  me  serve  thee, 
no  matter  how:  see,  I  am  very  strong,  and 
if  thou  wilt,  will  carry  thee  about;  and  O, 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          125 

that  only  someone  would  attack  thee,  that  I 
might  show  thee  by  experience  that  I  could 
fight  for  thee  like  never  another  in  the  world! 
Aye!  death  itself  would  be  delicious,  were  it 
only  given  as  a  ransom  for  thy  life. 


XVIII 

So  as  he  spoke,  she  listened,  standing  as  if 
rooted  to  the  ground,  with  a  bosom  that  rose 
and  fell  in  agitation,  and  eyes  that  did  not 
dare  to  leave  the  floor.  And  when  he  ended, 
all  at  once,  she  looked  up.  And  she  cast  a 
single  glance,  rapid  as  a  flash  of  lightning, 
at  his  face,  that  resembled  the  face  of  one  that 
begged  for  mercy,  for  his  eyes  were  full  of 
tears;  and  then  once  more  she  bounded  like  a 
deer  towards  the  cliff,  and  stood  again  upon  its 
very  verge,  with  her  back  towards  him,  look- 
ing out  over  the  gorge.  And  all  at  once  she 
stooped,  and  covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 
And  so  she  stood  awhile;  and  at  last,  she  took 
her  hands  from  her  face,  and  turned  round. 

And  she  looked  at  the  King,  with  hard  eyes, 
and  a  face  paler  than  the  ashes  on  the  body 

of  a  Pashupata  ascetic.     And  she  said,  very 

126 


A  Diplomatic  Interview         127 

low,  and  very  clear,  and  very  slowly :  O  King 
Chand,  the  Guru  has  arrived. 

And  instantly,  the  King  turned  like  light- 
ning to  the  door.  And  seeing  nothing,  he 
listened,  and  he  said:  Here  there  is  nobody. 
Then  she  looked  at  him  strangely,  and  said 
again:  There  is  no  Guru.  I  am  myself  the 
Guru.  And  as  he  continued  to  gaze  at  her, 
in  perplexity,  not  understanding,  she  con- 
tinued: O  King  Chand,  thy  original  opin- 
ions about  women  were,  after  all,  the  truth. 
For  a  woman  is  after  all,  nothing,  but  a  mass 
of  deception,  and  a  traitor,  and  now  I  have 
betrayed  thee,  and  led  thee  straight  into  a  trap. 

And  as  the  King  still  remained  gazing 
silently  at  her  in  amazement,  she  said  yet 
again:  Thou  hast  all  along  imagined,  that 
I  was  here  by  a  chance,  and  our  meeting  was 
unpremeditated,  and  accidental:  and  yet  it  is 
not  so.  For  I  came  here  by  express  design 
and  policy,  to  catch  thee:  and  Yogeshwara 
led  thee  to  my  arbour  by  my  advice  and  pre- 
arrangement,  hoping  to  hook  thee,  and  snare 
thee,  by  means  of  me,  the  bait  and  the  decoy, 


128  A  Mine  of  Faults 

in  the  meshes  of  his  policy,  making  thee  his 
instrument  by  means  of  me.  And  now,  thou 
hast  learned  a  lesson,  and  verified  thy  faith 
by  experience,  and  thy  dislike  of  women  is, 
as  thou  seest,  altogether  solid,  and  founded 
on  the  truth. 

And  as  she  ended,  the  King  stood  staring 
at  her,  in  a  stupor,  and  like  one  whose  senses 
have  been  annihilated  by  an  overwhelming 
blow.  And  he  saw  before  him  not  the  woman 
that  she  was  immediately  before,  but  another 
altogether  different.  For  her  face  resembled 
a  very  beautiful  and  stony  mask,  ice-cold, 
suddenly  put  on,  as  it  were  to  hide  the  soul 
concealed  below. 

So  as  he  stood,  recollection  suddenly  came 
back  into  his  heart.  And  he  said  to  himself: 
Thus,  then,  the  very  thing  predicted  by  my 
ministers,  has  actually  occurred.  And  like  a 
silly  fowl,  I  have  actually  rushed  into  the  trap, 
so  skilfully  prepared  by  Yogeshwara  to  catch 
me,  with  open  eyes,  forewarned. 

And  at  the  thought  of  Yogeshwara,  all  at 
once,  pride,  and  utter  shame,  and  rage  rushed 


A  Diplomatic  Interview         129 

as  it  were  all  together  into  his  soul,  and  the 
blood  left  his  heart,  and  surged  up  into  his 
brow,  and  lifted  the  very  hair  upon  his  head. 
And  suddenly,  he  bowed  before  the  King's 
daughter,  standing  absolutely  still  before  him, 
like  a  picture  painted  on  a  wall.  And  he 
said  slowly:  King  Mitra  is  very  fortunate 
in  possessing  such  a  minister,  and  such  a 
daughter;  and  I  did  very  wrong,  in  remaining 
even  for  a  single  instant,  in  an  arbour  to  which 
I  never  should  have  come. 

And  then,  he  turned,  and  left  the  arbour. 
And  she  stood,  absolutely  still,  watching 
him  go. 


XIX 

So  as  he  went  away,  the  soul  of  Yogeshwara, 
in  his  ambush,  almost  leaped  from  his  body, 
so  extreme  was  his  rage,  and  disgust,  and 
disappointment,  to  see  him  go.  And  he  ex- 
claimed within  himself:  Ha!  what!  am  I 
awake,  or  only  dreaming?  What!  after  lift- 
ing the  matter  to  the  very  topmost  pinnacle 
of  success,  has  she  actually  dashed  it,  with  a 
single  stroke,  to  the  very  bottom,  making 
everything  worse  by  far  than  it  was  at  the 
beginning?  Is  she  mad,  or  what  in  the  world 
can  be  the  matter  with  her?  Ha!  now  she 
has  very  effectually  ruined  herself,  and  her 
father,  and  me,  and  the  kingdom,  and  all. 
Could  she  not  hold  her  woman's  tongue,  and 
keep  the  secret?  Ha!  now  indeed,  all  is  lost. 
For  now  like  a  mad  elephant  he  will  be  back 
upon  us,  in  a  very  little  while,  to  wreak  his 

13° 


A  Diplomatic  Interview         131 

rage  upon  us  all,  and  tear  up  the  kingdom 
and  the  tree  of  my  policy,  by  its  very  roots. 
Fool  that  I  was,  to  stake  all  upon  the  dis- 
cretion of  a  girl! 

And  all  at  once,  he  stopped  short,  struck 
with  the  thunderbolt  of  astonishment  at  the 
behaviour  of  the  King's  daughter.  For  when 
the  King  was  gone,  she  stood  awhile,  looking 
at  the  door,  by  which  he  had  disappeared, 
motionless  as  a  tree,  and  turning  paler  and 
ever  paler,  till  her  face  resembled  the  marble 
floor  on  which  she  stood.  And  suddenly  she 
turned  round.  And  as  fate  would  have  it,  at 
that  moment,  her  eyes  fell  on  the  seat,  where 
he  sat,  and  on  the  flower,  that  lay  there,  ex- 
actly as  he  placed  it,  when  he  lifted  it  with 
such  affection  from  the  floor.  And  she  looked 
at  it,  for  a  single  instant,  and  all  at  once, 
she  flung  herself  upon  her  knees,  with  her  face 
buried  in  her  two  arms,  that  rested  on  her 
basket,  and  she  began  to  sob,  as  if,  her  heart 
being  broken,  she  was  about  to  break  herself 
in  pieces  also. 

And  as  he  watched  her,  tears  of  compassion 


132  A  Mine  of  Faults 

for  her  and  her  condition  arose,  as  if  against 
his  will,  in  Yogeshwara's  soul:  for  he  had  a 
daughter  of  his  own.  And  he  gazed  at  her 
distracted,  and  seizing  his  right  ear  with  his 
hand,  he  began  to  pull  it,  utterly  confounded 
and  perplexed  as  to  what  was  to  be  done. 
And  he  said  within  himself:  Surely  some 
assistance  should  be  rendered  to  this  unhappy 
maiden,  no  matter  what  blame  she  has  in- 
curred by  her  incomprehensible  and  utterly 
disastrous  behaviour.  For  she  seems  about  to 
abandon  the  body,  in  grief  about  something 
or  other,  as  great  as  I  have  ever  witnessed  in 
my  life.  And  yet  if  I  go  to  her  assistance, 
it  will  come  out  that  I  was  a  party  to  their 
interview,  and  that  will  never  do.  And  yet 
I  cannot  stay  here  and  watch  her,  as  it  were, 
dying  before  my  eyes,  in  the  very  agony  of 
grief. 


XX 

AND  then,  once  again  he  stopped  short,  and 
so  great  was  his  amazement  that  he  came 
within  a  very  little  of  betraying  himself  by 
a  loud  exclamation.  For  as  he  looked,  lo!  the 
King  appeared  again,  standing  in  the  door, 
having  returned  unheard  with  silent  steps. 
And  as  he  stood,  he  looked  towards  the  King's 
daughter,  all  unaware  of  his  return.  And 
when  he  saw  that  she  was  sobbing,  like  a  very 
incarnation  of  despair,  all  at  once  his  face  was 
lit  up  as  it  were  by  the  ecstasy  of  joy.  And 
he  went  noiselessly,  on  tiptoe,  towards  her, 
and  when  he  reached  her,  he  stood  for  a  mo- 
ment looking  down  at  her,  with  compassion 
that  was  mingled  with  unutterable  affection. 
And  then,  he  stooped  down,  and  touched  her 
on  the  shoulder,  very  gently,  with  his  hand. 

And  at  his  touch,  she  started  to  her  feet, 
133 


134  A  Mine  of  Faults 

and  stood,  with  downcast  eyes,  from  which 
great  tears  rolled,  chasing  one  another,  along 
her  cheeks,  and  a  bosom  that  heaved  like  the 
ocean  after  a  storm.  And  the  colour  came 
and  went  upon  her  face,  like  the  shadows  of 
the  clouds  driven  furiously  over  the  hillsides 
by  a  strong  wind. 

And  the  King  leaned  towards  her,  and  said 
softly:  See,  it  is  fated,  that  I  cannot  leave 
thy  arbour,  however  often  I  may  try.  And 
now,  thou  art  mistaken.  For  it  was  my  old 
opinions  of  women  that  are  wrong,  and  my 
new  ones  that  are  right.  And  now,  dear 
Guru,  wilt  thou  choose  me  for  thy  husband, 
or  not? 

And  as  he  stretched  his  hands  towards  her, 
she  glanced  at  him,  and  all  at  once,  she  lost 
control  over  herself,  and  abandoned,  as  it 
were,  the  dominion  of  her  soul  to  him.  And 
she  fell  into  his  arms,  and  remained,  sobbing 
on  his  breast,  and  quivering  with  emotion,  and 
joy,  and  shame,  while  the  whole  world  swam 
in  mist  before  the  eyes  of  the  King,  trembling 
like  a  leaf  in  the  whirlwind  of  passion  roused 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          135 

by  her  agitation  and  her  surrender  and  her 
touch.  And  after  a  while,  he  said:  Listen, 
for  I  wish  to  ask  thee  a  question,  and  tell 
thee  why  it  was  that  I  returned.  For  it  was 
not  only  thy  beauty  that  drew  me  back  again, 
though  that  alone  would  have  made  it  utterly 
impossible  for  me  to  go  away:  notwithstand- 
ing Yogeshwara,  whom,  at  the  thought  of  his 
deception,  I  was  ready  to  strangle  with  my 
own  hands.  But  all  at  once,  as  I  went,  I 
stopped.  And  I  said:  Ha!  why  did  she  be- 
tray herself,  and  tell  me,  when  she  had  com- 
pletely gained  her  object,  what  without  her,  I 
myself  should  never  have  discovered?  Could 
it  be,  because  her  heart  smote  her,  to  receive 
the  husband  of  her  choice? 

And  then,  with  a  cry,  she  gripped  him  by 
the  arm.  And  she  sobbed  aloud  as  she  ex- 
claimed: Ah!  thou  hast  guessed  it,  thou  hast 
guessed.  Ah !  till  I  knew  thee,  to  deceive  thee 
seemed  to  be  a  little  thing.  And  fool!  I  laid 
a  snare  for  thee,  never  dreaming  of  danger  to 
myself,  nor  thinking  that  I  should  be  the  first 
myself  to  fall  into  the  snare,  laid  for  me  by 


136  A  Mine  of  Faults 

the  Deity  in  thy  dear  form.  And  as  I  looked 
at  thee,  and  listened  to  thee  pleading,  all  igno- 
rant of  my  deception,  all  at  once  I  became  a 
thing  of  horror  to  myself,  and  saw  myself  a 
traitor,  to  thee.  Ah!  no,  not  to  thee.  Ah! 
to  thee,  to  thee,  ah!  to  thee  I  could  not  lie. 


XXI 

So  those  two  lovers  stood  together  in  that 
arbour  on  the  edge  of  the  hill,  not  knowing 
where  they  were,  and  all  ignorant  of  time. 
And  the  King's  daughter  sobbed,  until  she 
laughed,  and  laughed  until  she  sobbed,  till  at 
length  the  King  took  her  in  his  arms,  and 
seating  himself  in  his  old  seat,  set  her  on  his 
lap,  and  held  her  like  a  child,  rocking  her  to 
and  fro,  and  wishing  that  her  agitation  might 
never  have  an  end,  so  only  that  he  might 
continue  rocking  her  for  ever  on  his  knee. 

And  at  last,  becoming  once  more  mistress 
of  herself,  she  said  to  him  in  a  whisper:  Thou 
didst  well  to  return,  without  losing  any  time. 
For  hadst  thou  remained  absent  but  a  very 
little  longer,  I  would  have  thrown  myself  to 
the  bottom  of  the  cliff,  and  then  they  would 
have  found  there  not,  as  thou  saidst,  thy  bones, 

137 


138  A  Mine  of  Faults 

but  mine.  But  as  it  is,  I  am  alive,  to  be 
already  a  burden  to  thee,  and  as  yet,  the  yuga 
has  only  just  begun.  And  he  said:  O  bur- 
den, I  am  not  in  any  hurry  to  set  thee  down. 
And  I  will  carry  my  flower,  thou  shalt  find, 
to  the  yugafs  very  furthest  end. 

And  as  he  spoke,  she  turned  in  his  arms, 
and  looked  towards  the  flower,  and  she  said, 
very  low:  When,  after  thy  departure,  sud- 
denly I  saw  the  flower  that  I  gave  thee 
lying,  left  by  thee,  despised,  alone,  there  came 
into  my  heart  such  an  agony,  that  death  itself 
would  have  been  relief.  And  the  King  said, 
with  emotion:  I  will  build  for  it  a  shrine  of 
gold:  but  as  for  thee,  thy  shrine  is  in  my 
heart.  But  now,  O  Guru  of  my  heart,  there 
is  still  something  to  be  done:  for  thou  hast 
not  yet  placed  thy  garland  on  my  neck. 

And  instantly  she  jumped  up  and  brought 
it.  And  she  said:  With  my  own  hands,  I 
wove  it  for  thee,  and  the  charm  that  I  sang 
to  it,  unknown  to  thee,  for  thee,  has  produced 
its  result.  And  as  the  King  stood  before  her, 
she  reached  up,  with  a  smile,  on  tiptoe,  and 


A  Diplomatic  Interview          139 

put  the  garland  round  his  neck,  together  with 
the  other  garland  of  the  creeper  of  her  arms. 
And  the  King  drew  her,  with  his  own  arms, 
towards  him,  and  their  souls  met  upon  their 
lips,  and  lost  in  each  other,  became  inextricably 
united,  in  the  paradise-oblivion  of  a  kiss 
without  an  end. 


And  old  Yogeshwara,  in  his  ambush,  said 
softly  to  himself,  with  tears  in  his  eyes :  Now 
it  is  time  for  me  to  go,  for  now  I  am  super- 
fluous; and  this  is  the  end,  and  the  battle  is 
won.  And  she  was  right,  and  I  was  wrong; 
and  she  alone  knew  her  way  to  the  only  true 
and  perfect  end,  without  which  all  was  in- 
complete; and  I  am  nothing  but  an  old  fool. 
And  in  my  folly  I  actually  ventured  to  chide 
her,  and  reprove  her,  not  perceiving  that  it 
was  not  she,  but  I,  who  was  to  blame,  coming 
within  a  very  little  of  utterly  destroying  all, 
by  my  presumptuous  and  impertinent  inter- 
ference, unable  to  appreciate  her  incomparable 
skill,  and  conceitedly  deeming  myself  a  better 


140  A  Mine  of  Faults 

judge  as  to  how  this  matter  ought  to  be  con- 
ducted to  a  successful  termination,  than  her- 
self: as  if  a  woman  and  the  Deity  of  Love 
did  not  know  how  to  manage  their  own  busi- 
ness better  than  all  the  grey-haired  dotards  in 
the  three  great  worlds! 


A  Cordial   Understanding 


A  Cordial   Understanding 

AND  the  very  next  morning,  King  Mitra's 
capital  went  as  it  were  wild  with  joy,  with 
smiles  in  the  form  of  red  banners  hung  from 
every  housetop,  and  laughter  in  the  form  of 
drums  beaten  in  every  street,  and  shouts  of 
victory  in  every  mouth:  since  all  had  heard 
that  King  Chand  was  going  to  marry  the 
King's  daughter,  and  so  would  the  hereditary 
enemy  become  a  friend.1  And  the  marriage 
was  celebrated  with  all  its  rites,  with  speed 
that  did  not  however  keep  pace  with  King 
Chand's  impatience,  who  almost  lost  his  reason 
on  account  of  the  delay  of  the  astrologers  in 
fixing  the  auspicious  day.  And  as  soon  as 

1  The  upahdra  sandhi,  or  alliance  produced  by  a  gift 
from  one  of  the  contracting  parties,  is,  according  to  Wish* 
nusharma,  of  the  fourteen  different  kinds  of  alliance,  the 
best.  I  have  selected  Cordial  Understanding  as  its  nearest 
equivalent. 


144  A  Mine  of  Faults 

he  had  led  his  bride  with  trembling  hand 
around  the  fire,  he  took  her  away  to  his  own 
home. 

And  as  he  went  away,  Yogeshwara  said  to 
him,  at  the  city  gate:  O  King  Chand,  dost 
thou  bear  a  grudge  against  the  old  minister 
that  lured  thee  into  a  snare?  And  Chand 
laughed,  and  said:  O  Yogeshwara,  I  wish  I 
had  a  minister  like  thee.  And  as  to  the 
grudge,  I  owe  thee  what  I  am  anxious  to 
repay.  Come  to  my  capital  below,  when  thou 
hast  leisure,  and  ask  me  for  anything  what- 
ever of  most  value  to  thee  in  the  three  worlds, 
and  it  is  thine.  And  Yogeshwara  said  in- 
stantly: I  choose  thy  bride.  And  Chand 
laughed  again,  and  said:  It  is  well  chosen: 
and  now  I  see,  that  thy  reputation  for  wis- 
dom is  well  deserved.  Nevertheless,  thou  wilt 
have  to  choose  again,  for  thou  hast  asked  for 
the  only  thing  I  will  not  give. 

So  then,  as  they  went  away,  Yogeshwara 
said  softly  to  himself:  Now,  were  I  only  a 
young  man,  my  fortune  would  be  made.  But 
as  it  is,  I  am  old,  and  my  work  is  done:  and 


A  Cordial  Understanding         145 

I  have  attained  the  fruit  of  my  birth.  And 
see!  how  the  Deity,  in  this  case,  as  frequently 
before,  has  brought  about  things  contrary  to 
all  expectation,  and  such  as  no  man  could  have 
believed  even  to  be  possible,  by  the  very 
simplest  means.  For  King  Chand  and  his  son 
have  done  nothing  all  their  lives,  but  subdue 
the  regions  of  the  earth:  whereas  King  Mitra 
has  done  absolutely  nothing,  except  marry  a 
wife  and  beget  a  daughter.  And  yet,  aided 
by  my  policy,  this  daughter  has,  like  a  wish- 
ing-tree,  dropped  all  Chand's  gains  into  our 
lap,  and  so  far  from  losing  anything,  we  have 
gained  all.  So  much  more  powerful  has 
proved  this  slender  digit  of  the  moon  than  all 
the  fury  of  the  sun.  And  now,  then,  I  will 
put  off  the  burden  of  the  State,  and  spend  the 
days  that  still  remain  to  me  in  accumulating 
merit,  by  penance  and  austerities. 

And  he  handed  over  everything  to  his  son, 
and  becoming  a  pilgrim,  went  to  Waranasi. 
And  there  he  took  up  his  station  on  the  margin 
of  the  holy  stream,  and  sat  there,  motionless 
and  speechless,  till  he  died.  And  they  made 


146  A  Mine  of  Faults 

a  pyre  and  burned  him  on  the  Ghat:  and  his 
soul  entered  another  body,  while  the  ashes  of 
the  old  one  floated  down  the  river,  and  were 
lost  at  last  in  the  waters  of  the  sea. 

And  then,  Maheshwara  stopped. 

And  after  a  while,  the  Daughter  of  the 
Mountain  said  softly:  O  Moony- Crested,  thy 
story,  after  all,  proves  absolutely  nothing. 
For  beyond  a  doubt,  Chand  would  have  loved 
his  beautiful  and  crafty  mountain-bride  every 
whit  as  much,  had  she  never  committed  any 
fault  at  all. 

Then  said  the  God:  O  Daughter  of  the 
Snow,  thou  art  altogether  mistaken.  For  the 
fact  that  he  had,  as  it  were,  to  forgive  her 
for  a  fault,  in  the  very  crisis  and  ecstasy  of  his 
passion,  increased  it  not  merely  a  hundred, 
but  a  thousand-fold,  and  enriched  it  with  a 
sweetness  which  otherwise  it  could  never  have 
possessed.  And  so  it  is  in  every  other  case: 
for  therein  lies  the  flattery  of  sex.1  And  each 

1  Abhimdnika  is  a  piece  of  profound  psychology,  utterly 
beyond  translation.  It  means  the  intense  self-gratifica- 
tion, or  egoistic  pride  felt  by  either  lover,  conscious  of 


A  Cordial  Understanding         147 

sex  loves  the  other  better,  if  it  love  at  all,  for 
having  something  to  forgive.  For  nothing 
augments  affection  so  much  as  the  forgive- 
ness of  its  object.  And  the  tests  of  love  are 
only  two,  the  power  of  recollection,  and  the 
capacity  to  forgive.  For  false  love  forgets 
at  once,  and  cannot  forgive  at  all.  But  love 
that  is  really  love  forgives  for  ever,  and  never 
forgets. 

Then  said  the  mountain  goddess:  But  in 
what,  then,  lies  the  superiority  of  sex  to  sex, 
and  man  to  woman?  And  why  is  not  he  a 
mine  of  faults,  as  well  as  she? 

And  as  she  spoke,  she  was  conscious  of  a 
change:  and  all  at  once  she  looked,  and  found 
that  she  was  lying,  not  on  the  Great  God's 
breast,  but  on  the  green  side  of  a  hill.  And 
instantly  she  exclaimed,  in  a  pet:  Now  he 
has  cheated  me  again,  suddenly  substituting 
this  green  hill  for  his  own  body,  and  going 

monopolising  the  other's  love,  in  being  that  other's  ade- 
quate and  reciprocal  opposite  and  satisfaction:  the 
strange  and  sweet  emotion,  half  bashful,  half  triumphant; 
that  seethes  and  bubbles  in  a  young  man's  soul,  when 
first  a  woman  falls  in  love  with  him. 


148  A  Mine  of  Faults 

somewhere  else,  leaving  me  in  the  lurch,  with- 
out an  answer  to  my  doubt.  And  now  I  shall 
have  to  wait,  until  he  chooses  to  return.  And 
doubtless  he  thinks,  that  after  a  little  while, 
I  shall  have  utterly  forgotten  all  about  it; 
but  on  the  contrary,  I  will  very  carefully  re- 
member to  make  him  answer,  and  I  will  take 
my  hair  down,  and  keep  it  so,  until  he  does. 
And  in  the  meantime,  I  will  go,  and  listen  to 
my  own  praises;  and  show  myself,  it  may  be, 
for  a  moment,  in  return  for  them,  to  my 
worshippers  in  the  Windhya  hills. 


THE  END 


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A  Fascinating  Romance 


GREAT 

POSSESSIONS 

By  MRS.  WILFRID  WARD 

Mrs.  Ward's  latest  book  is  the  romance 
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where  he  attended  the  University  as  a  lonely  fig- 
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hermit  and  the  story  tells  how  disciples  gathered 
round  him,  beginning  with  two  worldly  young  men 
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hermit's  cave  and  borne  to  the  triumph  from  which 
he  shrank  in  horror, — the  miserable  weeks  in 
Rome,  touching  examples  of  his  simplicity  and 
guilelessness.  Then  the  peace  which  came  with 
the  renunciation,  and  his  last  days  passed  quite 
happily  as  a  captive  in  a  prison  cell. 

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BY  ALICE  MACGOWAN 

Author  ol  "  JUDITH  OF  THE  CUMBERLANDS." 
"RETURN,"  "LAST  WORD,"  ETC. 

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Gowan's  new  Tennessee  mountain  story 
marks  a  long  step  in  advance  of  her  ear- 
lier novels.  It  is  an  interesting  company 
that  is  brought  together  in  this  book — 
notably  the  proud  high-spirited  mountain 
beauty  who  is  the  heroine,  and  the  bold 
and  fiery  young  hero,  who  will  surely  stand 
high  in  the  good  graces  of  readers  of  the 
tale — and  a  company  of  distinct  types 
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